


The Resurrection of Lungbarrow

by Madam_Violet



Series: The Resurrection of Lungbarrow [2]
Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who: Virgin New Adventures - Various Authors
Genre: As much as possible in this fandom, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Ceruleans are cool, Gallifreyan Culture (Doctor Who), Gen, Lungbarrow, Maybe other Doctors, Post-Episode: s12e10 The Timeless Children, They're the keepers of the old traditions, bringing the Cartmel Master Plan and the Chibnall Master Plan in one big Master Plan, but a lot of wholesomeness too, humanoid TARDISes, not in the way memes portray them, the Timeless Child is the Other, which includes botanics don't worry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:41:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 80,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23344921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madam_Violet/pseuds/Madam_Violet
Summary: They say oddity runs in the Family, and Innocet would be the last one to deny it.Caught in cross fires between the ruling elites of the Capitol, Innocet is forced to leave Gallifrey. Meanwhile, the Doctor is still looking for survivors, and maybe a glimpse of hope.Reunited after centuries, or just a few months depending of the point of view, the two Cousins face the baleful reality of Gallifrey's destruction. Unless Innocet's misfortune is another trick of fate ?Set after the Timeless Children and Lungbarrow, canon compliant for both Chibnall's and Cartmel's Masterplans.
Series: The Resurrection of Lungbarrow [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1652503
Comments: 94
Kudos: 17





	1. Tomorrow will be special (yesterday was not)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm finally posting the real thing !  
> I am not used to big stories with big plot, but don't worry, I'll manage to find space for wholesome slice of life moments here to.
> 
> Don't expect to see Thirteen in the first chapters, she comes in later.

Where is home ? The poet would say it is where one's hearts stand. The Capitol busy-body would say it is under the great dome of the Citadel. The Housekeeper would say it is where her House stands.

Innocet was the Housekeeper of Lungbarrow and she had no House, so for her, home was where her family stood.

At the time this series of events started, home was the top story of an avearge sized tower in the Capitol of Gallifrey. If she had been asked her opinion on her new surroundings two major feelings would have come competing : relief, and an unnerving dullness.

At the earliest hours of the day, Innocet would leave her room and start preparing breakfast for everyone. In the true Capitol fashion, it would have been the Catering Bureau's job, but she had to ensure her role somehow. There weren't any Drudges to give orders to, so she did most of the work by herself. She didn't complain, menial tasks made her feel like she was being useful, and most of her Cousins gave her the minimal amount of work. The long lost Maljamin, Tulgel, Chovorthe, Farg, DeRoosifa, Salpash, Celesia and the others who had gone missing had all regenerated and were still in shell-shock, secluded in their rooms most of the time. It was mainly Owis, Jobiska, occasionnally Rynde, and herself. But they were enough to be on each other's nerves when it was one of those days. 

She hadn't read her cards since they had arrived at the Capitol. She had always kept her safe pack in her pocket, as she would never have left it in her room at the mercy of the Drudges. As soon as she had been given new clothes, she had gathered every little treasure, her first instinct to look for hidden pockets. None of the ample, silky beige robes and rust colored Chapter dresses in her wardrobe had any, so she had spent her first moments of free time in the Capitol sewing . She knew it wasn't a rational behaviour; but she didn't feel safe enough yet in this new and foreign place. A crimson ceremonial robe had been prepared for her as well, all heavy velvet and golden embroidery, as if she had suddenly been allowed to play Time Lady in the absence of her illustrious runaway Cousin. The whole idea inspired her equal repulsion and thrill. It felt heavy on her shoulders, heavy as the long braid she had lost with her regeneration. A new burden, courtesy of the Doctor. 

Old habits did die hard. However, her cards were now useless, as there was no soul between those walls to guide her spirit. She knew she didn't need anyone to make prophecies, she had old Gallifreyan blood running in her veins, but being severed from the House felt strangely lonely. Sometimes, she tried to imagine the remaining roots growing in the warmth of Mount Lung's rich soil. When everything was silent around her and her mind was well relaxed, she could almost feel their small tendrils reaching out, and she felt fully alive. One day, they would have a House again, full of loomborn Cousins, and maybe womb born children would run between its walls too.

Every morning she would close her eyes and start her day tasting the vibes in the air. If she closed her senses enough and opened her mind completely, she could feel the general mood of the Household, from the deepest and most silent confusion of her traumatised Cousins to the the noisiest outbursts of Owis' childlike whims. She could even reach further and if she wanted, and feel the hive-ish buzzing of the Capitol's affairs. 

When Innocet woke up on this ordinary morning, the Household was heading towards a calm day. she could feel her Cousins' sedated thoughts, Even Rynde and Owis were minding their own businesses and not stepping on each other's feet. Jobiska was looking forwards her visit, and she had already set her mind on a new board game they recently had received. Years after she could have said this serenity was omnious, like the calm before the proverbial tempest, but she knew better than that. Most omens of that kind were merely illusions, and thankfully, not every calm day led to a massive temporal threat.

She got up on her feet and jumped from the bed, walking directly to the sheer curtains of her window, taking in the golden light of the morning. Such a shame this dreadful, and yet pretty beautiful dome was blocking fresh air from entering the tower. The rays of sunshine covered the white walls and furniture with a veil of gold and at the moment, it was rather beautiful. The tiny furniture made her feel strangely tall, despite being a lot smaller in this new body. That was what adult size furniture was meant to be : small and practical. she knew she would soon get used to it and find the return to the House difficult, but for now it felt like piloting the awkward body of a giant.

In the common room, light came from the ceiling dome, drawing circular patterns on the large table. It was still empty, she could hear her own footsteps as she walked towards the metallic cupboards and produced a box of oatmeal and a little bag of dried magentas. Making porridge for everyone was her first task of the morning. she knew by heart what each of her Cousins liked the most, and prepared the toasts of jam according to what the general mood told her. Trumpberry for Celesia and Tulgel, ulanda for Chovorthe... 

Some said Gallifrey was ugly, to which she would have replied it wasn't. Most parts of Gallifrey where beautiful, the endless Drylands, the mountains and forests of silver, the living Houses, maternal wombs of the loomborn Time Lords. However, the few foreigners who had visited Gallifrey only saw the Capitol, for which she would have agreed with them, was actually ugly.

She would have never admit the place they all had been relocated to was ugly, of course. It would have been ungrateful of her. For a matter of fact, it wasn't. It was actually the best of Time Lords idea of good taste at the time. White walls, plastic and metal furniture, a perfectly sanitized environment for highly civilised people. The only miscalculation here was to assume any of the Lungbarrow denizens were civilised people.

The living quarters where organized around a large hexagonal common room that served as a dining hall, and occasionally a battlefield for the survivor Lungbarrovians and their exhausted soon-to-be Housekeeper. 

Her train of thoughts was soon interrupted by a flutter coming from the corridor, and soon, a fledershrew was bumping into her, panicked by the daylight. she caught the small rodent in its flight and used her psychic waves to calm it down. Soon, Owis burst into the room, his messy curls flying wild around his head. she rolled her eyes, a smile betraying her amusement. 

“You've lost one of your little friends” she said as she handed the furry creature to her Cousin.

Owis mumbled sheepishly.

“I don't mind you having pets, but some creatures aren't meant for daylight, especially when they've lived in the dark for generations.”

Owis frowned, as he always did when he didn't understand. she walked to him and combed his hair with her fingers. In those fancy Capitol clothes, he felt as awkward and out of place as the fledershrew in his hand. 

They all looked outlandish, if she was honest with herself. The mighty House of Lungbarrow had fallen in a spiral of decay long before the oldest of them had been weaved, and the Loom that had produced noble leaders in the past had lost it splendor long ago. If they had been a second zone family of low ranking Time Lords and Capitol servants for centuries, those 673 years of isolation had made them barely more civilised than a clan of rebellious Shobogans. 

“Yeah, but when it's dark I'm sleeping” he muttered, sleep still hooding his eyes. 

“Then maybe you should find other pets. Rodents are nocturnal animals”

“I like my fledershrews. I've always had them in my room.”

She sighed and a smile escaped on her serious face. Returning to the surface hadn't been a return to normalcy, especially not for Owis, who was almost as native of the Darkness as were his animals. 

“We could turn a part of your wardrobe into a cage for your fledershrews.”

Owis nodded in excitement for this new project, and headed back to his room, stealing a piece of toast in the process. She grunted, but said nothing. she was the one who had been in charge of his education, after all. 

Sometimes she wondered if she had been too soft with him to compensate overbearing her previous charge. One had fled away, the other one hadn't grow a bit in half a millennia. What a glorious testimony to her motherly talents. She had to admit the context hadn't helped poor Owis. Hadn't they all regressed to infancy between those walls, playing games and trying to slip between the shadows to escape the Drudges like a bunch of eight years old Academy students ? She wasn't better than them, keeping childish little keepsakes in her pockets and playing Housekeeper with her brand new tea service like a freshly loomed maiden. But what was a Housekeeper but an eternal loomling playing mother in bigger than life dollhouse ? 

As she had finished pouring the last cup of magenta juice, she closed her eyes and took a few breaths. In exactly two minutes, her Cousins would start arriving and her time of blessed loneliness and contemplation would be over.

To her surprise, tiny old Jobiska arrived first. She was barely able to stand on her feet, and yet had managed to postpone her regeneration again. Strong-headiness ran in the family. Soon, everyone was here and she took her place at the end of the table. Rituals were vital, now more than ever. Normalcy came with order and predictability.  
“My dear Cousins of Lungbarrow, as the sun has risen again, I wish you all a good and peaceful day”

She bowed her head and everyone bowed in return, then she sat down and took a spoonful of porridge, thinking about the day coming ahead. Morning gathering were generally silent, everyone still lost in the mist of their dreams. Watching all of them, the survivors at least, made her feel oddly warm inside. All her efforts hadn't been in vain, and the weight of her guilty secrets had turn into a rewarding levity. Many new faces for a new start, and yet, it was still them, with their memories and common history. A new start, and yet a deep sense of persistence, what more could a Gallifreyan Housekeeper wish for ? 

Of course she still had a strong and lingering grief for Arkhew. she didn't blame Owis, the poor thing didn't known better. A death without a Confession Dial was a tragedy, but in a sense it seemed such a serene idea. Drifting away for good. Maybe them Gallifreyans of noble blood were taken away from actual afterlife, trapped as ghosts of data for ever in the cold and unnatural circuits of the Matrix. 

Innocet had this wish, no, this wishful thinking, that she could very soon be in contact with the Sisters of Karn. she wanted to learn, to develop this archaic potential she had been loomed with beyond the basic requirements of a Housekeeper's life. she wished for a lot of things, actually, she wished to read more un-Gallifreyan books. She wished to show Owis the rain and how the tiny droplets felt. She wished snow would soon start falling as she had often wondered in her girlhood years what it felt like to be under the Capitol dome when it was covered in white.

And she wished to meet more of Snail's friends, and slowly put the pieces together and watch the epic tale of her younger Cousin take form to her eyes.

Innocet had a lot of peaceful wishes, and none of them involved timelines unraveling, deep buried conspiracies and hidden dimensions. But as long as it would end on her wedding day, she would gladly take whatever Time would give her.


	2. Retribution for the Eternal Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can finally post this second chapter !  
> First chapter has been excessively tiring to correct again and again : I changed the whole PoV (it was initially in 1st person, but I didn't like it), try to correct as many typos, bad English and wrong Gallifreyan terms as I could. It's not perfect yet, but I guess it's okay.
> 
> Writing about Gallifrey is a real challenge, and I feel like I spend more time on TARDIS Wikia than on my actual fic. But it's worth it !
> 
> Thanks for taking the time to read my nonsense !

The day of the Revocation came soon enough, and yet, it felt like Innocet would never be ready to face the Prydonian Chapterhouse. She was on her own, as she had always been. 

This whole ceremony had been a grotesque masquerade from its very beginning. It should have been the role of the Kithriarch to represent the House in front of the Prydonian Chapter Council. But of course the Kithriarch of Lungbarrow was away, and she doubted she would ever see him again. At this moment she hated him. Stupid Snail, unable to stay still for a few weeks. It had always been a matter of weeks ! After 673 years, he hadn't been able to wait for a pair of weeks to get them out of this dreadful situation.

In the absence of a Kithriarch, the ancient laws made the Housekeeper the second in commend. She wasn't afraid of showing all those important men what a simple Gallifreyan woman could achieve, if only she had been allowed to enter the Chapterhouse Council Room, but only Time Lords were allowed in, and it wasn't exactly the tradition to send a Housekeeper in training to the Academy.

Sector 6 was a long series of ancient towers, long corridors, and bridges leading to impressive and somewhat gaudy doors. The Prydonian Chapterhouse was the one with a sculpted owl next to its door. she knew the legends about it, that people would slid accusations in its beak and the Cardinals would take care of the matter. Too many times Satthralope had used this story to scare her charges when they were newly woven. Innocet had sworn to herself she would never do that to any of her Cousins, scare them, threaten them, or make them feel unworthy of her care.

She stood in front of the Council Room, and her mind started drifting to her cards. She should have consulted them. She should have done something, anything to give herself strength. She wanted to feel them in her hand, but she knew she could not take them out when she risked to be seen. Those Time Lords didn't take her seriously already, if she showed any sign of an irrational mind, they would never trust her and the House of Lungbarrow would stay shunned. 

She realised she was strolling nervously around the antechamber when she heard a door opening somewhere. she immediately took a more dignified posture and tried to eavesdrop instead. Of course she couldn't enter people's mind without being caught, but she could feel the general mood. They were laughing behind these doors. Laughing bitterly out of embarrassment. The House of Lungbarrow was an object of contempt for them, a disgrace they would have preferred buried, both metaphorically and literally. 

If she stretched her mind further, she could almost feel her Cousins psychic signatures. It was so tenuous she wasn't sure it was really there or just the fresh imprint in her memories. She tried to concentrate on them. Blissful ignorance. When she had left in the morning, everyone had been busy with their usual routine. When everything would be over, she would join them and act as if nothing had happened, as if she hadn't been kept apart from the meeting that would seal her own family's destiny. She would play silly games and smile, she would translate a new children's book and she would visit the place where the old roots and the new seed would grow together in a single House. She would lie down in the thick grass and close her eyes, being one with the roots and emerging consciousness hold within the seed.

Lost In her mind, she didn't hear the door open next to her, and she started when she felt a presence next to her.

“Housekeeper Innocet ?”

She snapped out of her daydream and recognised the Lady President's alien friend, Lady Leelandredloomsagwinaechegesima. She was wearing an elegant dress but her hair was down. 

"My Lady" she saluted politely, bowing at her.

" Please, don't. And you can call me Leela. I have been tasked to escort you to your private appointment with the Lady President."

"My... appointment with the Lady President ?" Lady Leela nodded and led the way towards the presidential office.  
"The President is waiting for you. You didn't get the message ?"  
"No, I didn't". She sighed "of course you didn't. Why does Romana insist on trusting anyone on this forsaken planet ?". 

Lady Leela was walking at a fast pace, her eyebrows knotted in a permanent scowl. "The data core is supposed to be uploaded into the Matrix within the next hour". Innocet tried to show no surprise when she realised everything that had been told to her during the past days had been a lie.  
"Isn't it up to the Cardinals to decide ?". The bodyguard sneered  
"The Cardinals ? All they can do right now is to decide if the House of Lungbarrow is good enough for their little gentlemen's club." 

Innocet tried to catch up with Leela. How could a woman walk so swiftly in such an elaborate dress ?  
"So, what does the Lady President wants with me ?"  
"You are the Head of your House, therefor you are the first person concerned by the ceremony." "But the Chapterhouse ?" she protested in confusion.  
"Oh, them ? They've all been invited to a pointless little meeting. Too bad they can't assist to the actual ceremony". A smile spread on her tensed face when she realised they had been fooled.

As they approached the Lady President's office, her self confidence started melting away. Sure, it wouldn't be the first time they meet, but the circumstances had been different last time. She knew it was trivial, and vain pride wasn't a value she encouraged, but she couldn't help to wonder what Lady Romana thought about them as a Family. She wasn't as dim as they Time Lords might have thought. To them, they were a wild bunch of dirty tafelshrews, which wasn't exactly wrong. She knew no one would take her seriously, she was a lunatic running a madhouse.

She took a glimpse of her own appearance in a glass panel. She was wearing the traditional ceremony outfit for the Housekeepers : a simple bonnet with a trim of lace on her head, a dark wine coloured dress with a crimson robe, showing her allegiance to the Prydonian Chapter. It made her look both old beyond her age, and ridiculously young with this new body of hers.

“The President is waiting for you in her reception room” Leela announced.

The door opened and Innocet's eyes widen when she saw what was behind. Instead of the plain white office and sharp furniture she was expected, she was greeted by an immense garden. Or rather the idea of a garden, as if she was ready to step into a picture book. Smiling with delight, she almost jumped into the illusion, forgetting her fear for one moment. She was still looking around, starry-eyed when she noticed the figure waiting on the bridge, looking at her upon the blue pond.

Romana had personally organised the whole thing. She had been the one setting a decoy meeting at the Prydonian Chapterhouse Council Room. She had even made sure Innocet herself wouldn't be made aware of the trick until the meeting had started for a little amount of time, just in case one of the Cardinals would have arrived fashionably late. And of course she had decided to meet the newly appointed Housekeeper in her favourite reception room. 

When she saw the glimmer in her guest's eye, she congratulated herself for that choice. Innocet of Lungbarrow was a curious guest. She was both deeply Gallifreyan, maybe in a more profound sense than any Academy-raised Time Lord, and yet almost as alien and savage as Leela. The chasm between the Capitol and outer-Gallifrey had gone deeper and larger each century. With young people taken away from their Houses at the age of eight, most Time Lords had no memories of their own looming place. Servants were often indulged a longer “childhood”, but who could honestly say they had actual relations with the Capitol staff, this invisible army of little hands, so necessary and yet unrewarded. Housekeepers were another layer of mystery, as they weren't accustomed to wander out of their homes. 

Their eyes finally met and Romana smiled warmly. Innocet bowed and joined her on the bridge. The President hadn't seen the other woman since the day of the rescue and she noticed how much good a few weeks in the Capitol had done to her. The poor raggedy thing she had met in the ruins of the House of Lungbarrow now looked like a proper lady with her new clothes of the latest fashion. But her whole body language, on the other hand, was still one of a wild creature trapped in a vehicle's lights. 

“Welcome to my holographic garden, Innocet of Lungbarrow. I hope you're having a pleasant stay within the Capitol” .  
Innocet bowed politely, earning time to find the courage to speak.  
“Thank you, my Lady President. My Cousins and I will always be in a great debt towards you.” Romana smiled kindly and took the Innocet's hand.  
“Nonsense, it's the least I could do after the prejudice caused by my Chapter. I'll make sure the House of Dvora becomes an ally to Lungbarrow.”  
“With all my respect, madam President, Lungbarrow needs no allies, as we won't take part in those dangerous power games anymore. It is not really the ways of the Doctor.”  
“You are right, Housekeeper, but you will need allies anyway. The other Houses won't be as kind as I am. Gallifreyan politics is a jungle, and the wild bear doesn't care if the prey wants to participate to its game. Listen to me, I am talking like my bodyguard !”  
Leela let out a polite laugh and Innocet almost smiled.  
“I didn't summon you here to talk about the dangers of politics, though. As you know, it's today the Excommunication of House of Lungbarrow will be revoked and the data core saved by the Doctor linked again to the Matrix. Your Loom will now be part of Gallifrey's memory again.” 

Romana guided Innocet to an adjacent room, leaving the garden of illusions behind. In this new location, no more comfortable lie, but the cold metallic sharpness of reality. A large screen was occupying almost a full wall. 

“The situation is not as easy as it should” the President explained. “I cannot undo a decision taken by a Chapterhouse Council and my only way to ensure your House a fair treatment was to bribe some of those high collars. Fortunately, I have a few good friends and also foes who have no interest in crossing a President.”

Innocet nodded, and Romana noticed she was withdrawing in her own mind. Of course, her impassive face didn't betrayed any sign of distress, she was too brave to show any sign of weakness, but her mental defenses were unlikely low. The Time Lady had to fight the urge to give the poor thing a hug. Another habit she had taken during her off world travels. On Gallifrey, however, it would have cause more scare and embarrassment than comfort.

“There had been a debate around the status of the House of Lungbarrow. On the absence of both a House and a reliable Kithriarch, it has been discussed the possibility of an assimilation, as it is written in the Law. On other words, Lungbarrow would lose its independence and become affiliated to another House. I proposed the House of Dvora, in case the decision would been made official. However, I am personally opposed to the idea. The Doctor told me a lot about you and your heroic conduct during the Darkness. You are worth of a leadership position, Innocet, and no one else is fitted to rule over such a unique Household as your own.”

Romana walked to the screen and gave a glance to Innocet. She was staring, her face undecipherable. She stayed still a moment and returned to her desk, facing her guest.

“The deliberation is happening at the moment we are talking. I need to watch the live feed, to be sure my representative is keeping the upper hand. Do you wish to stay or go with Leela and have a cup of tea in the garden ?”  
“I stay” Innocet replied within a heartbeat “the future of my Cousins is at stake”  
“I knew you would say that. I prefer to warn you, however, it might not be a pleasant moment”  
“If I wasn't able to face unpleasant moments, I wouldn't be talking to you here and now.” Innocet said proudly. Romana nodded, turning the screen on.

It was like peering through a window, the screen was wide and the resolution as good as reality. Innocet couldn't help but shiver a bit. She had faced so much, she rationalised, she could survive another humiliation. She had the President by her side, no matter what would happen, her Cousins would be safe. 

“Cardinal Braxiatel, you cannot seriously suggest giving full independence to those people”  
“I hear your worries, sir, and I understand. But where is your legal justification for such a drastic action ?” answered a suave voice, as the tall man faced is adversary completely unshaken.  
“The legal justification ?” scoffed a an older looking man in the assembly. “With all my respect, you seem to have lost all common sense. We are talking about a nest of vermin, degenerated by century of self isolation and under the leadership of a madman.”

The assembly reacted in a mix of applauds and gasps at the insult.

“Sir, you are talking about the Doctor !” cried a scandalized woman, one of the only female Cardinals. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, can we calm down and come back to the point” called the man named Braxiatel. “I think you all forgot we are talking about the House of the man who saved Gallifrey from the Sontaran invasion, among many other feats. The man who was our Lord President not so long ago. It is true, the House of Lungbarrow has lost its original splendor and hasn't woven many Time Lords in the last millennia, but it gave us valuable members of the Capitol staff, and one of the greatest heroes of Gallifrey since the Intuitive Revelation.” at this comment, the crowd went chattering again and Cardinal Braxiatel banged a few times on the table to bring silence. 

“And where is our hero when he is needed ?” a voice questioned.

“Maybe he has better to do than assisting to a petty Chapter reunion”

“This is why Lungbarrow needs a Kithriarch. And unless you suggest naming one of those pathetic creatures for the title and revoke the Doctor, this House stays a headless beast.”

“The House of Lungbarrow has a very capable Housekeeper.”

“A Housekeeper has no legitimacy without a House and a Loom !”

“She has the legitimacy we decide to give her. And the Doctor gave clear indications : he gave his Cousin Innocet full power over the House of Lungbarrow. She is legally allowed to represent him in quality of deputy.”

“You can't be serious, Cardinal. This woman, Innocet, has she even been checked by a doctor ? She's been trapped underground for centuries with only her mad Cousins and vermin for company, and if the rumors are true, she possesses a gift of visionary. I wouldn't vouch on this creature's sanity.”

Back in the presidential office, Innocet was hanging to every word. She had knew for long her legitimacy would be discussed, but seeing the debate with her own eyes, as an external viewer, made her feel like she was on trial. Romana had left her desk and taken a sit on the couch, next to the other woman. 

“ For now the House of Lungbarrow is under the President's personal protection, and will remain until the new House is ready to take its inhabitants. Then, the Housekeeper Innocet will take her vows and I promise you won't hear of them again. How is such a minor Family a problem to the mighty Prydonian Chapterhouse ? Are you scared of the Doctor ? He doesn't need a House to support him, and neither does he care about the politics of Gallifrey. Unless you powerful Generals, are afraid of a few former servants and their brave little Housekeeper ?”

A low whisper started droning in the crowd, then a few voices muttered intelligible words. Cardinal Braxiatel stayed silent a moment, letting his words sink. Innocet was mesmerized, perched on the uncomfortable couch. Romana cleared her throat and cut the feed.

“They will revoke our excommunication” the Housekeeper said with an expressionless face.  
“Yes, they will” Romana assured her calmly. “They know Braxiatel is a friend of mine, and what wouldn't they do to be on my good side ?”  
“I didn't know Time Lords had friends” Leela commented bluntly.  
“Braxiatel and I... lets say we are birds of a feather.”

Both women turned to Innocet, towering the small figure on both side. She was staring in the void, as if she was in some sort of a trance. 

“Innocet, listen to me, please. I can't promise everything will be easy from now, but I gave strict instructions to Cardinal Braxiatel. The House of Lungbarrow will be placed under the protection of House of Dvora for as long as you don't have a House of your own. However, this is not an assimilation. You retain your name, your properties and the integrity of your bloodline. One day, the Loom of Lungbarrow will be fertile again. But before you take your vows on the slope of Mount Lung, you and your Cousins will stay in your allotted tower. I'll make sure you receive everything you need to readjust to the... civilised world. And if you have any request, please, let me know.”

Innocet bowed humbly.

“You have the eternal gratitude of the House of Lungbarrow, Madam President.”

Romana shifted on her seat and exchanged a glance with Leela.

“Well, time is coming. Shall we go to the Panopticon ? We'll access the Matrix from there. “


	3. Memory of Forgathering Dream

Even in her wildest dreams, Innocet would never have dared entering the Panopticon. The large haxagonal room had always been a place of myths and legends for background Gallifreyans like herself. 

It was beautiful, but also pretty dull. Innocet wondered why moments like this always felt dull, like tiny buds that would only become beautiful flowers in the vase of memory.

“Here we are going to access the Matrix by the main terminal” Romana explained almost too casually.

Innocet nodded, her hearts were now beating very fast and her President's words came muffled by the blood pulsing in her ears. Maybe the present wasn't dull after all, it was her whole body that was like behind a veil.

“I remember you are an extraordinary psychic, so I must warn you you might accidentally hear and feel a lot more than any Time Lord should. Are you still willing to stay, or do you want to watch from behind a screen ?”

“I want to stay, if I am allowed to of course.”

Romana smiled warmly, showing a friendliness that didn't suit her title. Innocet had already been more intimate with the President, sharing her own mind with her, but she didn't know back then who she had been inviting in her circle. She could never be so candid again, and she wondered if the other woman regretted it. 

“Of course you are allowed to stay. I was just warning you.”

Innocet was standing idly in the middle of the room, as if she was scared of breaking something or desecrating the place by her mere presence. Romana cleared her throat and showed her the way to the Chamber of the Matrix. Innocet was already passing the doors when she realised her legs were moving.

“This is the data core the Doctor gave me. He wasn't able to complete the upload, but most of the data is here. Largely enough to rebuild the Loom of Lungbarrow.”

Romana took the tiny electronic chip and made it shine in the golden light. Innocet took a few steps forward, attracted by it like a moth by the flame of a candle.

“Once the ceremony has been performed, you will be given the data core as your rightful inheritance.” 

Innocet nodded and her eyes kept locked over Romana as she approached the terminal. Her body was tense and her mind wary as the Time Lady was getting closer, as if she could already feel something ready to come out and grab her whole.

“In the name of Rassilon the conqueror of Reason and bringer of the Intuitive Revelation” she started muttering under her breath. She had hated this litany so much when she was a young girl, when Satthralope had made her recite the Triumphs of Rassilon over and over again, as to choke all desire of rebellious mysticism out of her. She had always been a necessary shame, woven with all the qualities of the old race of the Pythia for the very utilitarian purpose of marrying the House and raising generations of Cousins. Forever bound and hidden out of sight. And yet, she was standing in the heart of the Citadel, treated with the greatest of all honors.

Innocet didn't see the President insert the data core. No visual clue could have prepared to what was about to happen. It was as if the mind of every Time Lord, no, every Gallifreyan ever born in History was jumping on her from the shadows, clinging to her robes and menacing to tear her apart like a ragdoll. She didn't scream, barely flinched. She had survived the endless whispers of her missing Cousins for centuries, those low murmurs trying to drown her in the dark well of insanity. The polyphonic voice of the Matrix was almost comforting in comparison.

She closed her eyes and let the flow of time and space, of wisdom and madness, of past and future run through her. The Matrix was analyzing the contents of the data core. The severed generations of Lungbarrow Cousins were coming home. They were all coming home. She vaguely wonder if it was what Cousin Jobiska had meant all those years. All of them, including the Anomaly .

“It's alright” she heard her own voice say, echoing in the empty Chamber. “It's just him, the Doctor, your former Lord President.”

The polyphonic and yet harmonious voice of the Matrix suddenly split in a hellish choir of dissonant groans and whining. “It can't be” it seamed to say, although there were no intelligible words reaching Innocet. “The Doctor wasn't born in the Loom of Lungbarrow. The Doctor is born from a Time Lord and a human mother. The Doctor has a brother who is at this very moment talking in the Prydonian Council Room. The Doctor... the Doctor...” Every voice had a different story to say, and all were true. It was hurting Innocet. It was hurting her badly, like thorns trying to reap her very own soul in shreds.

The Doctor, the Voice didn't call him that of course, it called him by his name, that forbidden name that no sound could form anymore, a name that had become an idea too abstract for any language, the Doctor was everything at once. He was legion, a single entity of thousand faces scattered across Time. And with him, like the tiniest scratch on the knitted fabric of reality, everything was falling apart.

The Hybrid. The Oncoming Storm. The Timeless Child. The other one...

Everything was true. Everything was real at once, so nothing was anymore.

The abyss had opened under Innocet's feet.

Sepulchasm !

A blood curling scream engulfed Innocet's last strand of consciousness. A scream so un-Gallifreyan, like the cry of agony of an ancient beast, that the woman would never have believed it came from her own throat. 

When Innocet regained consciousness, the first think she felt was a dull pain in her skull. A physical pain, as if she had been hit. She deduced she must had hit her head in her fall, because she had obviously fainted. She wasn't sure how it had happened, as if she was waking up from a dream so secret her mind refused to let her remember. She hadn't opened her eyes yet, but she knew she wasn't in her room. The air didn't smell like dampness and dust. It smell like sanitizer. She suddenly remembered her room didn't smell stale anymore because she had a new room and her old one had been destroyed. Maybe she had simply dreamed she had been back home. But were was she at that moment ?

She finally managed to open her eyes after what seemed like an eternity of fighting sleep paralysis. Everything around her was white. An hospital room. 

Of course, how forgetful she was.

The Panopticon, the Matrix Chamber...

Was it all part of a strange dream ? 

She tried to connect her memories logically, had she had taught herself to do when she was lost in a dream. Could she make sense of the situation ? She was the head of the House of Lungbarrow and the President of Gallifrey had invited her to assist to the reintegration of her Loom to the Matrix. It was unbelievable, but logical. 

And after ? 

Her painful train of thoughts was interrupted by a knock on the door. A woman entered. Innocet blinked to remove the last remains of blurriness and recognized Lady Leela.

“You are awake.” the alien woman stated simply. “How do you feel”

“I... I think I'm fine. Do you know what happened to me ?”

“You don't remember ?” Leela asked with genuine concern in her voice.

“I must have fainted. Where am I ?”

“You are in the sector 1 medical bay.”

Hearing those words, Innocet looked at herself in panic and noticed for the first time she was wearing a white hospital gown.

“Don't worry, your personal belongings are on the table, next to your bed.”

She turned around a bit too quickly and noticed her pack of cards and old rusty keys laying on a platter of silver. She started muttering explanations, but Leela cut short.

“You don't need to explain. You keep reminders of your tribe and traditions close to you because you don't like this cold and soulless place.”

Innocet nodded and a silent exchange happened between the two women, no words were needed between them, the savage from another world and the psychic from another time. 

Someone knocked and the door opened, revealing the President. Innocet bowed her head and watched the other woman coming closer and taking a seat next to her bodyguard. She had removed her high collar and ceremony dress and was wearing the kind of practical cloths she had worn during the rescue mission at the House of Lungbarrow. In her simple garment, no one would have guessed she might occupy a high function at the Capitol, let along ruling over one of the mightiest civilization in the known universe. She had young and impish features, like the little fair folk in Innocet's children books. The face of a friend and not a ruler.

“I am terribly sorry, Innocet” she apologized. “I should have known the Matrix would have attacked you. Your telepathic abilities are out of this time, it must have recognized you as a threat.”

Innocet frowned, trying to remember what had happened. Voices, voices had called her, almost reaping her mind away.

“I don't think it attacked me. It was desperate to tell me something, but I can't remember what.”

Romana flinched, a tinge of fear clouding her eyes for a fraction of seconds.

“Thanks Omega, it didn't awoke the Cloister Bells. I hope no one noticed everything, I don't want to have the CIA involved more than it already is. Are you sure you don't remember anything ? You don't have to tell me what you heard, I just need to know if you know things our enemies could try to take out of you.”

“No, I don't remember a single thing” Innocet blurted out “I would tell you if I remembered anything, Madam President. I just have the vague feeling it was about the Doctor.”

Romana relaxed and almost laugh.

“Then it's nothing out of the ordinary. Everything is always about the Doctor on this motionless piece of rock.”

Innocet smiled back, almost relived by the Time Lady's levity. 

“When can I go back home ? I need to be with my Family.”

“You need to rest, I don't think you realize how severely you've been hurt.” Leela said.

“It's alright, I just hit my head a little, nothing to regenerate from.”

Leela and Romana exchanged a worried glance.

“So you don't remember anything ?” the later almost whispered. “You didn't only hit your head in your fall. You've been possessed by the Matrix itself. It's a miracle your body didn't snapped.”

“By miracle, she means she was able to operate an emergency shut down on the terminal” Leela explained, showing Romana with a little sign of the chin.

“Emergency shutdown ?” Innocet asked wearily “What about the data ?”

“The data is now part of the Matrix, and I have no idea how badly it has corrupted it.”

Innocet felt a pang of guilt in her guts and realized how light she had felt since she had been freed from the dark disgrace.

“The Doctor shouldn't have come. He should have left us buried.”

“Please, don't say that” Romana scolded her “If the Matrix is disturbed, that only means some information has been redacted since, which is neither your fault, neither a good thing in the long term. What happened yesterday is not the fault of your House and the culprit will be caught in time.”

Innocet nodded and suddenly started

“Yesterday ? How long was I out ?”

“Only a few hours, I promise.”

She jumped on her feet and almost crashed on the floor if it hadn't been for Leela's reflex. 

“It's too soon, you need to rest” the alien told her as she urged back to her bed.

“My Cousins... They need me.”

“Don't worry” Romana reassured her “I've asked for the staff to take care of them. You overwork yourself, Housekeeper. We have people here who can help you.”

Innocet shook her head frantically.

“A lot of them cannot speak, they need someone with strong telepathic abilities. And Owis has never been under anyone's else care, he was born two years before the Darkness, he knows nothing of the world.”

“I promise you will be home soon. You need to give up a few of your self appointed responsibilities and let other people be in charge when you can't. I'm not trying to undermine your authority as the Housekeeper, just to protect you. I might be the President of Gallifrey, but I do not rule alone. I have Leela, K9, Cardinal Braxiatel and other friends scattered across the universe to help. You've been alone for too long, you need to trust people.”

“I've never had anyone to trust in the House of Lungbarrow” Innocet said grimly. 

“It is unfair, and not normal.” Romana stated sternly, as if she was scolding a rambunctious child. “You will rest for a few days, order of your President. And please, cry a bit before the tears you are repressing flood your body like the swamp of the North Wing.”

When she was done talking, Romana stood up and left the room, followed by Leela, who glanced a last time at Innocet with this warm smile that made the woman want to trust her so desperately. 

When she was finally alone, Innocet let out a pitiful whimper and tears ran free finally. She had 673 years of tears that no dam could restrain anymore. Her head buried in the snow white sterile pillow of her sector 1 medical bay bed, she cried muffled tears, her whole body thrashing with sobs and spasms.

No one could see her. Satthralope was dead, the House was dead and her Cousins were far away, all of them tucked in a clean and white beds similar to hers. It was alright and everything would be alright.


	4. Walking the streets of a former Hell

The city below the towers, Lower Len, as Rynde had called it, was noisy and overpopulated. Owis was hurrying behind his older Cousin, as he was not sure he could find his way back if he ever lost his sight. He didn't like it. The House had been his play field, he knew every nook and cranny of it, every secret passageway and tafelshrews nesting place. Here he was out of place.

Rynde had lived in one of those metal dwellings in the past and even after 673 years, he could still find his way between the streets and alleys, and soon he was at the old tavern. It hadn't changed that much, still the same grimy tables and sickening stench. 

“You wait here” he said, prodding a bony finger in Owis' side.

The younger man didn't like this place at all. It was too big and yet suffocating. Poeple were glancing at him and he wondered if it was because he had new clothes made of silky, beige material when everyone had rather torn out and dark rust or maroon capes. He had never seen so many people in his all life and he wasn't sure he could remember so many faces and names.  
And he couldn't even see the sky because of the high towers. The Capitol was really a wretched place and he wondered why so many people left their House to go swarming here like sugar-ants.

When Rynde went out of the pub, he was carrying a small packet, but Owis knew better than to ask any question. The back of his head was still aching from his last attempt.

As soon as she had been released from the medical bay, Innocet had rushed to the Tower. Walking her way back, she had turned and returned every thoughts in her head, as if she had expected to find a single glance of what had happened in the Matrix access chamber. But it was like a fire had consummated a part of her memories, leaving only ashes and a persistent smoke. 

Crossing the long bridge between Sector 1 and the next tower, she contorted her whole body to see the sky. It was almost as difficult from here than it had been from the fireplace in the House. However, it was easy to peer into the seemingly bottomless chasm that led to the Vaults. She felt almost nauseous just looking down. And above the void, the Lower town seemed like a sinister hive, its busy populace unaware of all the horrors just below their feet.

Innocet didn't like this place at all and she silently prayed the oppressive silence around her she would be back to Lungbarrow soon enough.

Everything was fine in the large hexagonal hall, and this fact alone was already a miracle. The sun was almost at its zenith and drew the most beautiful pattern of lace on the central table. It was a sickly shade of gold, as this region of Gallifrey was too close to the pole to ever leave dusk. 

A few of her Cousins were wandering aimlessly and Jobiska was playing in a corner with an Illusionary Triangle. She was too focused on the paradoxical shape, a remarkable piece of five-dimensional crafting, to notice the presence of Innocet. The younger woman looked at her with misty eyes. She hadn't checked in the Loom records, but she was pretty sure the tiny old lady was reaching the end of her regeneration cycle. Otherwise, she would have regenerated already long ago. She had no idea how old she really was, some said she was even older than Satthralope herself.

“It seem we're finally coming home, dear” she finally spoke as she had managed to twist the Illusionary Triangle around her mind. Innocet took the toy from her hands and smiled softly, producing a golden chain from under her garments. At the end of it, a small cage of metal was dangling. Inside it, the black data core. Those were presents from respectively Lady Leela and President Romana.

“Yes we are” she answered simply, a smile creeping over her youthful face, and she embraced her old Cousin. “Where is Owis ?” she suddenly asked, a bit worried not having heard his loud voice yet.

“He's been down with Rynde. Didn't say when they would come back.”

“Down ?”

“Yes, dear, down. In the Lower Len”

Innocet jerked away from her chair and swore between her teeth.

“Othering Other, when I catch them...”

Rushing to her room, she soon got out with her old cape and bonnet on. She wasn't sure this tailoring was still worn these days but it was better than risking going out in fine Time Lady garments. It was a bit tattered, but she had been forced to cut it and make a new, clean hem at the bottom, as she had lost at least one foot in height.

The streets were noisy and they stank of dust, rusting metal and relents of artron energy from the nearby docking bay. But worst of all, the mental pollution was so intense Innocet could guess why Gallifreyans' psychic senses had devolved over the generations. Fortunately, she could hear the undignified squeaks of confusion from the mind of Owis. It was a good thing the wretched boy still had the reflex to call her for help every time he was in trouble. 

She made a bee-line to her Cousins, crossing the street without paying any attention to her surroundings. She looked miserable enough to merge among the second zone citizens and undocumented Shobogans creeping in the shadows. 

Soon, she arrived to what she identified as a tavern, and not the most recommendable one. Owis was waiting in front of it, like a living target in his pale silk tunic.

“Idiot...” she muttered between her teeth.

She was about to strike when she noticed Rynde was coming out, shaking hands with a filthy man in shockingly fine clothes. They hadn't been here for a month, and Cousin Rynde was already deep to the neck into petty trafficking. So much for the honor of the House of Lungbarrow !

“You two !” she called when they had crossed the street “What do you think you're doing ?”

“Cousin Innocet ?” Owis asked in confusion, his shrewish eyes going from Rynde to Innocet. 

“Good to see you on your feet so soon.” Rynde said with an unpleasant smile “I am glad the rumors aren't true.”

“What rumors ?” she asked flatly, in no mind for childish games.

“You know, the usual. Mind probe, CIA and accidental deep dive into the Matrix.”

Innocet's hearts missed a pair of beats, but she showed no emotion and simply rolled her eyes.

“And you still listen to those Capitol noises at your age, Rynde ? I'm sure even Owis knows it isn't worth half a Pandak.”

The confused boy twitched as he heard his name and looked meekly at Innocet.

“Of course I don't believe any of those stories ! I don't even know what a "see-aye-ey" is !”

Innocet rolled her eyes to the non-existent sky and started walking back to the lift to the high towers, Owis on her tracks. 

“So you're going with her ?” Rynde chuckled with contempt “I shouldn't be surprised, you've always been Cousin Innocet's good boy.”

Owis froze on his tracks and turned around, facing his older Cousin with an expression on his face that suggested little cogs overheating under his skull. Obviously, it hadn't even crossed his mind not to follow his tutor, but Rynde had planted the seeds of rebellion in his very impressionable mind.

Innocet stopped, putting her fists on her hips in a theatrical posture of waiting. She had eyes of amber colored fire, as if the former ashes had never ceased to burn after her regeneration. In the little mind of Owis, she was the legitimate authority, which made her both the voice of reason and a figure to challenge. In this unpleasant place, he wasn't sure which one he needed. On the other hand, Cousin Rynde would make fun of him for weeks if he returned to the Tower.

Standing at each side of the road, the two older Cousins were fighting a silent battle of minds.

“Alright” grunted Rynde “You won, Housekeeper”

He had said those words with an intense disgust as he disappeared into the nearest alley, leaving Owis on his own. Having lost one of the two poles that kept him in a state of inertia, he hurried after Innocet.

“You shouldn't have followed Cousin Rynde” Innocet said, not without any kindness in her voice. “He's only trouble.”

“He says you just want to keep me in the dark because you're jealous of what I could accomplish with my wits” Owis protested, arms crossed stubbornly. 

Innocet managed to fight her urge to laugh or patronize him and answered calmly, like she had always done when she was trying to get anything from him

“And you think he treats you with respect when he asks you to cover him up ? He's using you, Owis, and he never has your good interest in mind. Who always come to help when you're in trouble ?”

Owis didn't say anything but nodded sulkily towards Innocet.

“And who puts you in trouble most of the time ?”

“Cousin Rynde...”

Innocet had stopped and was now facing Owis with a new expression on her face, one the young man had never seen before on his Cousin. She was smiling and she looked a bit crazy.

“Tell me, have you been visiting the town yet, or did Cousin Rynde rushed head first into his shady business ?”

“He said he wanted to show me the places of interest.”

“There's nothing interesting about taverns and lairs of debauchery. But I'm sure there's a big market a few streets from here.”

“How do you know ? And what is a market ?”

Innocet let out a girlish laugh that scared Owis a little. 

“Then let's go ! If I show you around, you'll be able to go out without Cousin Rynde, and even help me when I need something and can't leave the Tower. What do you say ? It's only if you want to.”

But Owis didn't have be told twice and all his bad temper had gone away as he followed his older Cousin who navigated so easily between the streets. Innocet had registered the global shape of the streets below from the bridge and she could also guide herself following the minds around her. The market was the less toxic space, as it was mainly frequented by honest Capitol staff workers and licensed merchants from the outlands.

“So, what happened when I was at the medical bay ?” Innocet asked “Did you have visits from the medical staff ?”

“Yes, but I prefer when it's you. You make better tea and toast and you don't scream when a tafelshrew crosses the room.”

Innocet felt mortified for a few seconds, then she started laughing again. After witnessing the futile games of power inside the heart of the Capitol, she only felt pity for those Time Lords in their high collars. If only they knew how much their own President herself despised them, preferring the company of an un-Gallifreyan woman. Maybe they knew, and that was the reason why they wanted to overthrown her so badly.

“I'll ask who this poor staff worker was and I'll thank them personally. Do you think they'll like a jar of trumpberry marmalade ?”

“Cousin Innocet, why were you at the medical bay ? You were sick ? Are you going to regenerate again ? I liked this new face of yours.”

Innocet smiled at the display of childlike worry.

“Don't worry, I'm not sick. I just had a little accident.”

“It's what Cousin Rynde said. Except he said it wasn't an accident and the Agency was involved. What does it mean ?”

“Cousin Rynde is an idiot and he'll get in serious trouble one day if he can't keep his mouth shut. The Agency are very bad people, Owis. They're the same very bad people who entertained Cousin Glospin in his madness. You shouldn't talk about them, it only brings bad luck.”

“So, what really happened !”

“Nothing serious, I promise. I met with the President and we performed an ancient ritual together, but you know how strong my psychic abilities are, right ? I had a lot of visions and voices in my head because a lot of people have lived and died here for thousands of years and they all wanted to tell me their story. I fainted and hit my head on the stairs. I felt better soon after, but the President wanted to make sure I didn't have any physical or psychic injuries. She's a very kind woman, so thoughtful and friendly.”

“Cousin Rynde told me not to trust a Time Lord, especially a nice Time Lord, because they're the most vicious ones.”

“Maybe he's not completely wrong with this one.”

Innocet hated the tug she felt had the back of her mind since Cousin Rynde had mentioned the Agency. She would have put her life in President Romana's hands, but she still had no idea what had happened in the Panopticon and the hours after she had fainted. 

By the time they talked, they had reached a large avenue. People looked less ratty here and Innocet removed her old cape, folding it carefully under her arm. From the main square, she could see the copper colored sky. Stalls were aligned all around the central plaza and as soon as Owis noticed the colorful fruits, he sprinted and Innocet rushed after him. She arrived in time as he was helping himself with a big blue round fruit. She caught him by the arm and smiled charmingly at the merchant who was glaring at them.

“I'm sorry, sir, it's the first time my young Cousin leaves the House.”

She plunged her hand in the depths of her cape and produced a small round purse of brown leather and took a few coins from it, hoping there was enough. After having paid for the fruit, she took Owis by the elbow and didn't let him wander again.

“You can't go around and steal things like that !” she scolded him as they walked among the crowd. "Luckily, I took some money with me. Is there anything you'd like for dinner today ? 

“The staff already cooks for us.”

“They do, but I am a bit disappointed. When I was younger, before the dark and the dire times, the Drudges used to bake gigantic pies with the magentas from the orchard, and they roasted fish and whole beasts from the mountain. I bet none those Cardinals from the Prydon Council have ever had a dinner like we used to have back in the days.”

Owis was looking at her as if she was revealing the secrets of the universe to him.

“Cousin Rynde used to organize great banquets for the Capitol.”

“He did. But as a future Housekeeper, I've learned all the secrets of the Drudges. Now, do you have any ideas for what I could cook ?”

Owis frowned in great concentration and finally declared.

“We haven't had mushrooms for a while.”

Innocet grinned.

“That's a wonderful idea. I remember a recipe of mushroom and fresh nettles pie, with dices of dried meat. I wonder if we can find nettles on this market.”

They started they quest for mushrooms and ended with a full basket of feathergrill and cardinal's collars. Spinach would replace nettles for this time. Innocet was counting her coins, realizing what a ridiculous amount of money she had taken with her while Owis was asking about every kind of fruit , vegetables and other type of food he didn't know, or didn't remember about. His mouth was stained with green trumpberry juice from the heavily loaded pies Innocet had bough for them. As they wandered around, she had her eyes on clothing stalls. Dresses of different Chapters colors were hanging on racks and dummies. The practical kind servants and menial workers wore, something suitable for a respectable Housekeeper. As she inspected a light brownish cape, her eyes were suddenly drown to a blue gown made of fluid material.

“Strange colors” Owis commented with a mix of confusion and disapproval.

“There are colors for every Chapter. Like the Sepulchasm tokens, you remember ?”

“Sure ! Red for Prydonians, Green for Arcalians, errrr, purple for Patrexes...”

“Blue for Ceruleans.”

For one moment, Innocet wished she had been born in a Cerulean House. Blue was such a nice color, like the sky in Southern Gallifrey, where the pole was far enough to allow the dusk to fade away. It was the color of the Cadon river that crossed the estate on lazy summer days. And it was the color of his box. Snail's precious TARDIS, silent creature she had felt purring against her skin and whisper serenely inside her mind. An unpredictable, chaotic and yet benevolent entity.

Counting her money, Innocet bought the brown colored cape and a cream lace petticoat.


	5. Bibliophile with a deciphering eye

Black circular patterns were dancing in front of Innocet's eyes like a delicate lace of thoughts. She had chosen Circular Gallifreyan for this first translation of the book known as “Alice Through the Looking Glass”. She was obviously fluent in every form of Gallifreyan, with a preference for Old High Gallifreyan, but elitism had a price and she knew her translations would be less useful to the public if she used a dead language. Modern Gallifreyan was her first choice for poetry because it allowed rhythmic and phonetic compositions Circular didn't made obvious. But for Alice, Circular felt more natural. Ideas appeared in their purest form, free from their body of vocables and letters.

Innocet laughed softly as she searched for the best phrasing for the White Queen's lines. This book was strange : it didn't feel foreign at all. It could very well have been an English translation of a Gallifreyan text. Innocet couldn't help but wonder if it was the product of a Time Lords intervention, or even the work a Time Lord writer hidden on Earth. The book was already known on Gallifrey, scholars had written about it in the rare books treating with off-world cultures. Somehow, aspects of it had even left a mark in Gallifreyan popular imagination, but very little people knew where these fragments of characters and places came from. Innocet would be the first Gallifreyan author to offer a faithful translation full with annotations and available in all the three forms of Gallifreyan. 

She was even more invested in her work now she knew she would be read. Her work had been discussed about in the librarian circles of the Capitol and soon Time Lords had showed a polite interest in the strange woman's precious collection of books. President Romana's open policy had created a need for foreign studies. She knew very few would truly appreciate her work, of course, but her friends support was what mattered to her. 

Her friends, she thought. This was a word she still turned in her head with reverence , as if it was made of fine silk lace and might break if said aloud. It was President Romana who had given it to her first, insisting to invite her on informal tea parties and make her feel welcome. Lady Leela was less openly affectionate, but Innocet could recognized unspoken appreciation. Finally, she had somehow befriended a Time Lady of the Cerulean Chapter who had been visiting her to talk about literature and Old Times traditions. 

“The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday—but never jam to-day.” Innocet read aloud, Old High Gallifreyan rolling on her tongue like an old forgotten song. “‘It must come sometimes to “jam to-day,”"

“—but there’s one great advantage in it, that one’s memory works both ways.”

Innocet blinked. The words had been echoing through her mind, her own voice feeling distant and like distorted. She was alone, it was a certainty. No one was around to parasite her thoughts, especially not with book related remarks. She frowned and decided it was time to leave her book and rest for a while. Her mind felt numb with tenses and music, delicate patterns and deep woodlands.

Woodlands. She was standing in woodlands. And yet, she was vaguely aware of being laying on her bed. She wasn't feeling lost neither did she question her presence under the large trees, shadows, ideas of tree shadows. A fawn was watching her. Except it wasn't a fawn, it was a person wrapped in the mental image if a fawn. She was staring and the dreamer was staring back. She vaguely wondered what her name was, as she had forgotten it on the side of her pillow.

Innocet blinked and got up on her elbows, shaking her head slowly. Her mind had slipped for a few seconds, or minutes, she wasn't sure. She vaguely remembered a reverie about the Fawn and the wood where nothing has names. Maybe it was time to get her mind busy elsewhere.

She walked through the Hexagonal Hall, taking note of every detail of the light hitting the floor and almost reaching the wall. It was quite late already. There as a half empty cup on the table and a small group of people were playing a board game in the far corner by the artificial fireplace.

She wanted to run away. It was a strange sensation, very unlike her. Since the Panopticon incident, a lot of things didn't make sense with Innocet and it scared her a bit. Her dislike for this place was stronger each day. Those steel walls, this orange light, the silence around her, so deafening. While playing with the old rusted keys dangling around her neck, she noticed a small light twinkling on the main communicator. Someone had tried to call, but no one had answered as she was the only person here expecting any calls at all. 

Lady Leela's voice dragged Innocet back to reality and she felt instantly warmer about the present. The President was having an informal tea party with a foreign delegation and she would be delighted having the wise Gallifreyan by her side. “Savages must help each other” Leela said with a grin in her voice. Innocet scoffed at the communicator and started wondering which one of her dresses would fit the most. She had a gown of the latest fashion, but if she had to be folk entertainment for alien ambassadors, she might as well have fun and dress herself as the Pythia from an Otherstide play. The idea made her smile as she made mental notes of sensible outfits and makeup that would not make a fool of Romana. As a young girl, Innocet had often dreamed of the Time Ladies who practiced divination and mind reading in secret, receiving the upper crust of the High Council and piercing their needle-pin holes into the opaque fabric of the Intuitive Revelation like stars in the darkest night.

She also needed to bring something for the guests. A magenta pie would be appropriate. Innocet took a few coins from the purse she kept in her secret pocket and sent Owis on a mission.

“Please, bring me a full bag of ripe magentas, you can keep the change and buy something for you with it” she said lightly, knowing very well she had given a lot more than needed to the youth.

As she waited for her Cousin, she prepared the dough reciting the Record of Rassilon in her mind. People were always impressed when she declaimed the ancient text by rote. She had her own opinions about it, of course, but nobody on Gallifrey cared enough about Rassilon and the founding myths to have an actual academic debate. Maybe she should work on a modern translation as her next project, so the ordinary Time Lord would get interested in their own history again.

Someone rang at the door and Innocet wiped flour from her dress as she walked to the entrance. Only guests rang the bell, or use the main entrance at all.

Leela was standing behind the door, wearing a fancy dress and beads in her hair.

“Romana asked me to brief you for the tea party.”

Innocet nodded and allowed the bodyguard inside. The few Cousins present twisted their necks to stare at the stranger, Leela nodded at them in acknowledgment, trying her best to clear her way through the thick silence. 

“Please, have a seat” Innocet offered as she cleared the half empty cup away and went for freshly brewed tea.

Leela took a chair and looked at the sky above her head. Anything to distract herself from the creepy Cousins from Hell. Innocet was soon back with tea and scones.

“Thank you” Leela said as she put a whole scone in her mouth. “I'm so hungry these days !”

“You eat for two” Innocet said politely.

Leela nodded and took another scone. 

“It's strange to be the first mother on Gallifrey. Everyone looks at me like I have suddenly grown a second head and Romana keeps insisting I should stay in my rooms all day. Andred would like me to go to his House.”

“He probably wants you to give birth near his Loom.”

Leela rolled her eyes.

“Last time I went to the House of Redlooms, the furniture almost crushed me and the twenty three Cousins present had a collective panic attack after I got a small bruise on the arm. I'm far safer in the Capitol.”

“Houses can be a bit wary with strangers, especially when you try to introduce new family members who are not from their Loom.”

“Like wild beasts with their young.”

“Yes, exactly. But with time you can gain their affection. Were you introduced properly by the Housekeeper of the Redlooms ?”

Leela nodded and served herself a cup of tea. A service door opened and a short, fat young man she recognized as one of the scavengers showed up, carrying shopping bags. He took a few steps back when he noticed the warrior.

“You can come in, Cousin Owis !” Innocet prompted him cheerfully. 

She got on her feet and joined the little man at the door, taking a bag from him before he retreated to the nearest corridor.

“Cousin Owis is a bit shy with strangers” Innocet commented apologetically as she inspected the content of the bag. “Well, now I have my magentas I can finish this pie.”

She made a sign to Leela to follow her and headed to the kitchen. The young woman complied, putting the last scone in her mouth. 

“I thought I should bring something at the tea party. Now we're alone, can you tell me more about our President's guests, please ?”

Leela found a seat and watched her friend peeling the fruits delicately. 

“Romana had already allowed foreign embassies on Gallifrey, but she plans to open the borders to civilians as well, for trading and also educational purposes.”

“She wants to open the Academy to non-Gallifreyans ?” Innocet asked in disbelief.

“That's part of the plan. She has already enrolled Dorothee, you know, the Doctor's young friend who likes to blow things up.”

Innocet frowned at the memory of the young woman blowing a hole in her House. She was still a a bit upset about this, but Leela noticed nothing and kept talking.

“She needs to show two things to her guests : that Gallifrey is welcoming, and that it actually has something of value to offer. From what I understood, Gallifreyan culture hasn't really prospered those last centuries, with the Academy focusing on cold science and the Capitol being overwhelmed with paperwork.”

“The President wants me to talk about the legends of the Old Times ?” Innocet asked with a smile.

“Don't be too excited, she mainly needs an exotic host to pretend Gallifrey isn't the capital planet of boredom.”

“You're being unfair, Lady Leela !” Innocet claimed as if she had been personally insulted. “There is more to Gallifrey than the Capitol.”

“You're right, there are Shobogans and Outsiders.”

Innocet ignored the last remark and started flattening the dough with her flower patterned roll. Leela watched her for a while, contemplating the idea of snatching a slice of magenta, when she heard a noise behind the door. Her warrior instinct kicking in, she jumped and found herself facing the dim overgrown boy whom she hadn't bother to register the name. He squealed and Innocet turned on her heels.

“Owis ! My goodness, you scared us, sneaking like that !”

“I scared you ?” the boy whined in offense.

“I'm sorry” Leela apologized “Why were you spying on us for ?” she added threateningly. 

“I...I wasn't spying on you, I swear ! I was in the hall when I smelled the magentas and cookie dough. Can I have some, Innocet ?”

Innocet sighed.

“I need them for the pie. And judging by the colour of your shirt you already had far enough.”

“Please ?” he tried.

“No.”

“But Innocet...”

“She said no, bloody little tafelshrew !” Leela growled

“Innocet ! She called me...”

“I know !” Innocet snapped. “Please, Owis, we are talking serious matters, so go play elsewhere.”

The young man disappeared in the hall and Innocet resumed to arranging fruits on her pie. 

“As I said, I doubt anyone will be actually interested in the Great Vampire Wars or the alternative version of the Record of Rassilon found in a cave of the Drylands a thousand years ago. I think you're supposed to wear a pretty traditional dress and maybe some fancy make up and read your cards for them. And please, only make good predictions” 

“Things take time, Leela. If foreigners start having interest for Gallifreyan antique history, then maybe Time Lords will realize classic texts are interesting. It's all in the way you teach them. I'm sure Academy students would enjoy the founding myths if they still played Mysteries for the ritual celebrations.”

“Romana told me she has invited an archaeologist. I think she wants to start a research program to learn more about the Old Times. I wouldn't be surprised if you were asked to join the team.”

Innocet bit her lower lip and avoided Leela's eyes.

“I'm not sure I deserve all of this. I'm not even a Time Lady.”

“Don't take it too personally. You're a novelty, just like me.”

“Soon they'll get used to me and they'll leave me alone. I'm not as interesting as you might think. If I can use my time under the spotlight to make my way through the academic circles and work for the good of the House of Lungbarrow I'm not doing anything wrong. And I'm having fun, not something I've been familiar with during the last 673 years.”

“That's the spirit” Leela said and both women burst into a heartfelt laughter.

Neither of them noticed Owis as he slipped into the kitchen and was approaching the magenta pie. 

Leela and Innocet turned around in one jolt when they heard a loud thud. Owis had collapsed on the floor, knocking a chair over in his fall. Leela took a small bag from her pocket and poured its content into the nearest tea cup that she shoved in Innocet's hands.

“Quick, try to make him drink that, I'm calling Andred !”

Innocet blinked in confusion.

“Hurry up !” Leela prompted her “It's a vomiting powder, he has to reject as much poison as possible before it's too late !”

Innocet nodded and knelt down beside Owis, trying to make him drink the medicine as he laid unconscious on the tiles.


	6. The Girl who played with Poeple's Shapes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I got no Internet for almost a week, so I had a lot of time for writing ^^.
> 
> I'm starting to get blocked with my Touhou Project themed titles, so they might become less and less relevant with time. I still like this one. If you wonder, "Dolls Judgement, the Girl Who Played With People's Shapes" is one of Alice Margatroid's themes. Don't look for deep significations about it ^^.
> 
> Anyway, we're entering in the thick of the plot.

“Andred, you have to do something !” 

“I'm sorry, Leela, but this is serious. Someone tried to assassinate the president.”

“You can't suggest Innocet tried to poison Romana ! I forbid you !”

Andred sighed wearily. He was already so tired and his wife was playing dangerously with his bare nerves.

“You were the only other person present in the room, so please, don't make a fuss in front of the Chancellery Guard tomorrow if you want to appear as a trustworthy witness.”

Leela growled and refrained herself from punching anything, especially Andred's face that was dangerously close. Imagining Innocet alone in one of those white interrogation cells made her feel sick. How could those bloody two-hearted people be so heartless ! 

The door hissed and Romana entered the room, still wearing her formal outfit.

“Romana !” Leela almost cried as she saw her.

“Madam President” Andred saluted with a stern side glance to his wife.

The newcomer beamed and gave a quick hug to Leela.

“How are you ? You have to be careful.”

Leela shook her head in defiance.

“Your Chancellery Guards arrested her ! I tried to explain Innocet is your friend and would never do something like that, but those dense idiots refused to believe me.”

Romana nodded haughtily.

“And they're right, Leela. I am the President of Gallifrey, I have no friends.”

Leela jerked away as if she had been stung by a wasp and look at Romana in utter disgust.

“So everything that happened between us means nothing to you ?” 

Romana sighed, a mix of pain and irritation in her eyes.

“Leela, your father was a powerful tribe leader, you should be the first person to understand. I cannot afford to trust blindly. I barely know Housekeeper Innocet and from an outsiders perspective things don't look good. Beside, what do you think will happen if I order her release ?”

Leela frowned.

“I suppose the CIA will take the matter on their hands” she deduced, and a knowing smiled pierced the storm on her face. “So you're doing this to protect her !”

“You can leave now, Castellan Andred. Your men are waiting for you in the security office.”

Andred saluted and leaved the room. As soon as he had disappeared, Romana let herself drop unceremoniously on the nearest chair and massaged her temples.

“We have to take this poor thing out of trouble as soon as possible and catch the culprit.”

“Any idea ?” Leela asked.

“I am the President, I can't throw accusations around. The only thing I can say without taking any risk is that the CIA is behind it.”

Sitting on her cold bench, Innocet was staring at the white wall before her. Another hexagonal room, Time Lords definitively had something for hexagonal shapes. She tried to concentrate on anything, but her mind couldn't catch any bribe of information from here. She had always been good for compartmentalizing her thoughts, it had allowed her to survive in the past, but she felt completely helpless in this cell and it scared her more than anything. 

The image of Owis unconscious on the floor kept floating before everything else. She had no idea if her Cousin was still alive and it drove her dangerously close to losing her mind. She had already lost too many people. Cousin Arkhew's death had been a tragedy she still resented herself for, and she couldn't deny she had felt responsible for Cousin Luton's gruesome demise. But she knew if she lost Owis, she would never recover. The youngest of the Cousins was her responsibility. She had raised him from birth, on that dreadful day that has condemned all of them. Snail's Replacement. She had hated him so much during the whole Looming process. As if anyone could replace her only friend. She had cried a lot these days, she was still young and unafraid of her own emotions. She had been scared the illegal Looming would cause the downfall of the House of Lungbarrow, and she had been even more afraid to accept the idea Snail would never come back. 

The arrival of a guard cut the dangerously tensed thread of her thoughts. She recognized Lady Leela's companion.

“The President ordered us to keep you in detention until we have found enough elements to innocent you” he said calmly.

Innocet stayed silent, face shut like an oyster but fire burning in her wet eyes. The Castellan tried to make eye contact, but she remained unresponsive.

“I am sincerely sorry, miss. If it can ease your burden, your Cousin has woken up an hour ago.”

Those last words went through Innocet like an electric shock and she stared at her captor.

“Did he regenerate ?” she asked, trying to keep her voice even.

“He didn't. The poison used is a powerful regeneration blocker so he'll have to be careful for a while. You had the good reflex, giving him the counter-poison immediately.”

“Lady Leela had the good reflex.” Innocet corrected him sternly.

“Of course, it was Lady Leela” he commented with a barely hidden smile. 

“He's alone” she finally pleaded with an accusatory glance. “I should be with him.”

“You are still our principal suspect, Innocet.”

“Why ! Why would I try to poison the President ? She had done so much for the House of Lungbarrow and she's been treated me as no less than a friend.”

“The President is a security nightmare and I'm sorry her disdain to the traditions made you the prime suspect in a terrorist attack.”

“You don't think I am guilty, do you ?” Innocet asked with a tinge of hope.

“I don't think anything” Andred replied coldly. “But the CIA wouldn't care, as long as they have someone to torture.”

A glimpse of mutual understanding passed between the two individuals and Innocet nodded.

“Please, Castellan, tell Owis everything is alright.”

“I'll send someone to him, I promise.”

With those last words, he left and Innocet allowed herself to lie down and closed her eyes.

“Can you tell me everything you know, please ?” Andred asked as he and Leela were alone in their room. He was lying down on his back, staring at the ceiling and Leela's head on his chest. She was listening to his double heartbeat in silence, unable to sleep either.

“As I told you, she was making a pie for Romana's reception when I arrived.”

“Why ?”

“I don't know, because it's what civilized people do in most places of the universe.”

“Not on Gallifrey. And I doubt bringing home made food to an official reception with your President is fitting protocol and security rules on any planet above level 5.”

“I'm not sure she had understood what kind of reception it was. I hadn't briefed her yet.”

Andred frowned.

“Does this happen often ? I mean, Romana's informal little tea parties with so-called friends.”

“It happens. You all seem to forget she's a person too. Sometimes she needs to remove that high collar of hers and drink a glass of wine with people who value her as an individual.”

“Is she trying to get assassinated before the first half of her mandate ? I suppose you know most of her friends.”

“She doesn't have a lot of them. It's usually just me, our K9s and occasionally people she has taken an interest in. Recently she invited the Head Archivist of the Cerulean Academy a few times.”

“Why ?” Andred asked confusedly. “She shouldn't have any Cerulean friends, there are almost not a single one of them in the Capitol nowadays.”

“Is she only allowed Prydonian friends, now ?” Leela commented bitterly.

“It's not what I mean. Gallifrey as a very strict Chapter system, people go to their own Chapter Academy, they usually venture very little outside of their House and closely allied Houses. Romana is perfectly allowed to have Cerulean friends, but the question is where did they meet and on what occasion.”

“I think it has to do with her reforms of Gallifreyan foreign policy. The Ceruleans have most of the documentation about off world civilizations.”

“So she's mixing politics with her private little parties. What is she trying to accomplish ? Another impeachment in less than two months ?”

Leela got up on her elbows and stared at Andred.

“Romana doesn't think like that and you know it ! She had taken a genuine interest in myths and legends and how they inter-connect civilizations together. Lady Iffalunar has knowledge to share with her and she's quite pleasant to talk with. Innocet is also in possession of old and forgotten myths and beliefs, and Romana thought it would be beneficial for the two of them to meet and exchange about their shared interest. You know, socializing.”

Andred sat on the side of the bed and took his head in his hands.

“All of this is a nightmare. Please, say no more and tell me what happened today and everything you know about the Lungbarrow Family.”

It was a dry and hot summer afternoon. Innocet was in her room, practicing her telekinesis on a fistful of chess pieces and small wooden toys carved by Cousin Arkhew for her last Nameday. The Red King was Rassilon the Almighty and the White Queen the Great Pythia. She had built a palace out of books and she was replaying the mythical scene from her old and battered textbook. She didn't have a proper tutor, because she wasn't destined to pass the Prydonian Academy test. Uncle Quences, she still called him Uncle Quences, had given her some old books as an Otherstide present, causing an argument with Housekeeper Satthralope. She still remembered the old man's voice “don't be so stubborn, Housekeeper. This girl has more wits than half of her Cousins together, shouldn't we support her interest for studies ? She's already working hard enough in her Housekeeper training”.

For some reasons, she was feeling sad at the though of her old Uncle, as if his days were counted. Maybe they were, all days were counted after all and he was on his last regeneration. 

For the moment, she was working on her telekinesis because she was the only Cousin able to levitate objects heavier than a Sepulchasm token for quite a significant period of time. She wasn't sure it would be useful one day, but she had read in her books it was a common ability in the Old Times. She also knew women of this mythical period were taller than men. It had made her feel a bit better about her own size. Maybe the Loom had made a mistake, creating her using an old template. It's what Cousin Glospin had told her one day. She didn't like the implication she was a defective product, but she liked the idea she was ancient. It made her feel steady and purposeful. It was also quite comical at the moment, because she hadn't finished her brainbuffing yet and she was still wearing her hair in twin tails and was playing with her dolls when Housekeeper Satthralope didn't make her help the Drudges in the kitchens or recite her pledges to the Old House of Lungbarrow.

She was barely eight cycles old, and she could have been at the Academy if Housekeeper Satthralope hadn't reserved her as her successor. It was one of the only thing the old lady had ever done that made her feel grateful. Turning eight was every Gallifryean loomling's nightmare. There were terrible rumors about the first entrance ritual. Innocet, however, was a bit disappointed. She had always been curious to see the Untempered Schism with her own eyes. It was the most beautiful thing in the universe, if her books description was exact. But she was happy to be at home, and not at the horrible Academy. The House of Lungbarrow was her universe, but not only. It was also her only true friend. She heard it whisper in her head and it obeyed her will most of the time. Sometimes, it even played with her, creating secret hiding between its branches and swinging her softly to sleep in a bed of blue leaves. 

Uncle Quences was still a bit disappointed by Innocet's lack of usefulness, as if she was too rare of a specimen to be confined inside a House for the next thousands of years. He had managed to convince Housekeeper Satthralope to allow the girl to pass her certificate to join the Syndicate of the Cryptaestheticians. “It's a prestigious qualification, perfectly suitable for a Housekeeper of Old Blood”. 

She was feeling dizzy now, as she had kept her White Queen-Pythia in the air for too long. She jumped on the floor and climbed on the nearest armchair, curling in the palm of its hand shape like the baby tafelshrew she had saved from the Drudges weeks ago. As she closed her eyes, she suddenly felt strange, as if reality had shimmered for a moment. It wasn't right. She wasn't an eight years old loomling anymore. Her body was wrong, or rather it was right, which was wrong. Uncle Quences had been dead for centuries and so was the House and Housekeeper Satthralope. She didn't want to accept this reality. And she didn't want to accept something else, she wasn't sure what it was but she knew it was something awful. She wanted to stay here and take a little nap between two games. 

She opened her eyes and now the charm was broken, she realized the reality was indeed shimmering. She wasn't in her old House but in an idea of her old House. Not even an idea, a feeling. A deep, warm feeling of her long-lost childhood. It was the problem with dreams, even when the mind knew they weren't real, the hearts were convinced they had more substance than the world behind closed eyelids. 

Something jumped from the window. A Cat.

No, a Girl wrapped in an image of a Cat.  
She shimmered as much as the rest of the room, but Innocet could decipher a vague form : long limbs, long ash blond hair and a porcelain skinned face. She was wearing a blue dress and a black bow in her hair.

“Alice ?” she muttered.

The figure giggled like crystal, but it didn't feel right, like she was speaking a foreign language.

“This is not my name, but you can call me Alice anyway.”

“What is your name ?”

“It's Alice for you.”

“Who are you ? Are you from my dream ?”

“Do you think I am, qualified Cryptaesthetician ?”

“I think you are an outsider, invading my mind.”

“What a nasty way to put things !”

“Are you from the Matrix ?”

“What do you know about the Matrix ?”

“Nothing, it's like my memories of this event have disappeared.”

“Memories can't disappear”.

“I know. But I've looked for them everywhere, and I only found ashes.”

“It's a shame you don't have access a good old Mind Probe...”

The Girl smiled a cold smile that sent shivers in Innocet's spine and she felt the ground opening under her feet.

She woke up suddenly in her interrogation cell.


	7. Greenwich in the Sky

Leela had told everything she knew to the team of investigators. It didn't differ from what she had told Andred on the pillow the night before, except maybe a few personal comments about the lack of personal hygiene of the zombie-like creatures living in the tower and talent of Innocet for baking scones.

Her memories were still very clear in front of her eyes : the bag of fruit hadn't been left unattended a single moment after Innocet had taken it from her Cousin's hands. Which left very little possibilities.

“According to my estimations, there are two main probabilities, mistress” K9 recapped with his robotic voice, as they walked together towards the medical bay. “The fruit might have been poisoned at the market or in the tower when you were not looking.”

“Both are impossible, K9. The boy, Owis, had eaten some on his way and we were in the kitchen all along. Unless the miserable little rat poisoned them and put juice on his cloths to fool us.”

“This affirmation is illogical, mistress. Why would he eat food he had poisoned himself ?”

“Because he's an idiot, K9. And your precious logic cannot predict the actions of an illogical mind.”

K9 made a whirring sound and Leela stopped walking, waiting for the new calculations.

“I am an idiot, mistress. The solution was obvious from the beginning.”

“Then tell me !”

“Only one of the fruits was poisoned.”

“Seems a bit hazardous for a terrorist attack against the President of Gallifrey.”

“Unless this wasn't a terrorist attack against the President, but against the House of Lungbarrow.”

“But why ?” Leela asked as they reached the hospital building. “The Lungbarrovians are just a bunch of ragged ghouls, except for Innocet of course. Why would anyone try to kill them ? And why poisoning a single magenta ? Unless of course... K9, you're a genius !”

“I know, mistress. It is one of my functions.”

“The culprit wasn't interested in killing. Owis was just a collateral damage.”

“By your chain of thoughts, I deduce the motive of the culprit would be to frame Innocet. There was still a risk she might have been killed.”

“There was also a risk Owis might have eaten the wrong fruit and died at the market. None of this makes sense, K9. Either our terrorist is an amateur, or he knew exactly what would happen. Let's say, he poisoned the least ripe of the fruits, so the stupid glutton doesn't eat it before arriving to the tower.”

“It is still a very hazardous plan, mistress.”

“It's what bothers me...”

They were now in the hospital hall. It was actually a pretty small building, in comparison to what she had seen on other planets, but after having spent several years on Gallifrey, Leela wasn't surprised. Gallifreyan rarely needed any medical help except for rare injuries or regeneration issues. She didn't bother to ask the staff and simply walked until she saw Chancellery guards. Of course they were here before her !

“I'm here to visit the patient” she said unfazed “I'm a friend of his Cousin.”

The guard stopped her.

“I'm sorry, madam, but this man is an essential witness and you cannot see him.”

Leela rolled her eyes and tried to pass anyway.

“I know he is. That's why I need to ask him some questions.”

The guard didn't move from the way, arms crossed over his impressive chest armor.

“This affair is now under the responsibility of the Chancellor's personal Guard.”

“I am the Castellan's wife, and personal friend of the President !”

“I'm sorry, madam, this affair isn't under your jurisdiction anymore.”

“Did he talk ?”

The guard frowned.

“I beg you pardon ?”

“Owis. Did he say anything interesting ? Because I bet he didn't.”

The two guards looked at each other and finally nodded towards Leela, prompting her to say more.

“I don't think this was an attack against the President. Only one fruit was poisoned, right ?”

“How do you know that ? It is classified information.”

“Because it's logical. Owis had eaten other fruits from the bag before picking the deadly one. Isn't it a bit strange to put all your chances on a single fruit when you want to kill someone as important as the President ?”

“Then what would be the culprit's motive ?”

“Framing Innocet, of course. But why ?”

“Maybe an enemy of the House of Lungbarrow ?” another one of the guards suggested.

“Maybe... please, let me see him ! He probably knows more than he told you.”

“And what do you suggest to make him talk ?”

“Asking the right questions. Because whatever he witnessed, there's a chance he didn't understand what was going on right before his eyes.”

It was a sunny day, bright warm sun after the rain. People were back in the streets after a few days of rainy boredom, but no one noticed the whirring and worping sound, like the painful breathing of a large creature. A blue box that haven't been there a few seconds ago was now half hidden behind a grove of small trees. 

The door opened and a woman jumped out of it like a jack from its box. She had more sun in her smile than the brightest June afternoon and her eyes were glistening like the grass blades under her boots. 

“Woaw ! Greenwich observatory. Late 21th century ! Brilliant !” she exclaimed with a strong northern accent after she had pulled her tongue and tasted the air humidity, completely oblivious of the large information sign just above her head. She turned around in one jump.

“I've never been to Greenwich observatory ! Well at least when it's open to public. I suppose it's the most fun hours, because what's the point to open it to public on the least fun hours ?”

No answer came and she realized she was alone. She usually had friends with her, because soliloquizing was less amusing when she had no one to react to her excitement, but today none of her friends had been available for a trip. It didn't stop the Doctor from talking. 

“Yes, of course, the readings !” she scolded herself as she was reminded of the reason of her presence by a beeping object in her hands.

She walked through the gates smiling to the families around her. It was really a beautiful day to visit London. The weather was sunny but not too hot, and it smelled like petrichor. She liked this word, petrichor. But most important of all, the artron energy here was almost intoxicating. Greenwich wasn't the only Time Rift on Earth, far from that. There was a quite famous one in Cardiff, but it was only an echo, like a ripple of this one. It was not by luck humans had decided those particular coordinates would be square one for the whole planet Time Zones. If there had been a place like this on Gallifrey, she could only imagine the crazy rave parties Academy students would have organized there. Maybe there was one, but the Shobogans had kept the secret. Or the High Council, that would have explained a lot about Time Lord history.

The Doctor was still giggling when she entered the main building. 

“Science !” she exclaimed, oblivious of the looks strangers gave her “I wonder if we can see Kasterborous from here ! Maybe, if I rewire the equipment a bit !”

She walked pass a “staff only” door and was already pretty far in the observatory itself when someone finally stopped her. The security agent asked her her accreditation and she pulled her psychic paper out of her pockets.

“Finally ! I though no one would ask. Hello, Jack. Can I call you Jack ? It's the name on your blazer, but maybe you took the wrong blazer this morning. Or maybe you've decided Jack was a rubbish name while eating your toasts. Not that Jack is a rubbish name, of course, one of my good friends is called Jack.”

“The professor Hartman is waiting for you, Doctor Smith. Talking of wrong badge, is John Smith really your name ?” the confused bulky man asked as he gave a last look to the psychic paper.

“Used to, when I was a bloke. Do you think I should change that too ?”

“That won't be necessary, John Smith wasn't a convincing name even when you were a man” a female voice said with a civil tone as the silhouette of a young woman walked toward them. She was approximately the same size as the Doctor, pale skinned, with light brown hair tied in a bun. The shape of her face suggested Korean or Japanese blood from one side of the family. The Doctor knew she had worked at the University of Kyoto a few years ago. Too many years ago for such a young looking person, even if she was probably older than she was trying to appear. With her ageless features, she reminded the Doctor of one of those pop singers who passed the years unchanging.

“Professor Hartman !” the Doctor exclaimed as she jumped ahead and shook the scientist's hand in hers.

“You can call me Maribel, Doctor” she responded with a flashing smile.

Leela had learned nothing new when she left Owis in his hospital room, but she had a few certitudes she couldn't wait to share with Romana. The young man had looked terrified when she had started to ask questions. Maybe it was just the way he acted around strangers, or she had scared him for good one day or another in the past, but she had enough experience to know when someone was hiding something important.

Cousin Owis, the youngest of the Lungbarrovians, was scared. She could easily believe he was to blame for poisoning the fruit, at least not on his own volition. He hadn't been suspected yet because no one would have think someone could be stupid enough to poison food and eat it afterward, but Leela had witnessed the young man's abysmal lack of brains many times. Owis had all the characteristics for a perfect underling : he was naive, easily scared by nonsensical threats and had very low attention span. It didn't require to be an evil mastermind to make him do anything, as long as the job was easy and could afford a large part of randomness in its execution. 

Owis had one weakness, though : he didn't have agency of his own. The only way to keep him under control would be to terrorize him enough to earn his silence. In those circumstances, it was an easy job, as he would have no interest in talking up to the authorities. Leela needed to assure him he would not be punished if he gave his accomplice's name, but it was easier said than done. If he had indeed something to do with the poisoning, there was no way he would be kept out of trouble like it had been the case after the murder of his Cousin Arkhew. Innocet couldn't cover him up forever.

“A message from President Romana, mistress” K9 announced.

“Perfect timing” Leela exclaimed with a smile.

She almost ran to the Presidential Office, ready to expose her theories. When she passed the doors, the enthusiasm deflated a little. She wasn't expecting to find Romana sitting behind her desk, a grave expression on her face. 

“Please, Leela, have a seat.”

The young woman nodded and complied, bracing herself for what her friend was going to tell her. She decided to overtake her and talk first. 

“I've asked a few questions to Owis, I think he knows something. If I can gain his trust...”

“I am sorry, Leela. There has been a new turn in this affair, and you are not going to like this.”

“Time Roses !” the Doctor exclaimed as she entered Maribel Hartman's office. “I haven't seen these for eons ! Have I ever seen Time Roses ? Legend say they were blooming in the Old Times, some even said Rassilon himself had created them. Can you imagine Rassilon cultivating roses ? Maybe he cultivates roses now... nevermind, I'm rambling !”

She had extended her hand to touch the silky pearl gray rose when she had noticed Maribel's staring at her. Maybe she hadn't expected the Doctor to out herself so quickly. But what was the point in waiting ? She was Gallifreyan, the Doctor was Gallifreyan, they should start hanging together. It's what immigrants did in lively neighborhoods, but she doubted there were enough Gallifreyans on Earth to start a Gallifreyan Cultural Association. Shame, it could be fun to have a stall at the next Winter Wonderland in Sheffield. Why Sheffield ? Must be the accent. 

“Please, make yourself at home” the other woman said with a sweet smile. “You can touch the roses, they're not really precious. Actually, I cultivate them for tea. Have you ever drank Time Roses tea ?”

“Time Roses tea ? Brilliant ! A bit sacrilegious, but brilliant. How do you cultivate them ? Can they grown on Earth ? Oh, I bet they only grow in this place, because of the Time Rift !”

The woman smiled.

“I have a glasshouse full of plants from home. If you ever want a jar of trumpberry jam, or dried magentas, or maybe a bouquet of Flowers of Rememberance for an unfortunate event, you can always ask me !”

“Do you cultivate all of those in your TARDIS ?”

The woman tensed a little and the Doctor lifted her hands, showing her palms as a sign of peace.

“It's okay, you don't have to tell me. I'm not here to question you, or to steal your secrets. I just need a friend from home, someone who remembers Gallifrey.”

“Home, then. Do you miss Gallifrey ?”

“No, not usually. But I miss it these days. I wish I had stayed.”

“Which time, Doctor ?”

“The last time. When they made me President and treated me like a hero. I don't like being President, I've been President a lot of times, President of Earth, President of the cheese-makers syndicate, President of Gallifrey. It's always a lousy job. Have you ever been president of something, Maribel ?”

“Actually, yes. I was president of a club, when I was studying in Kyoto.”

“Amazing ! Oh, I wish I could become a student again ! Do you think I look young enough to become a student ? Maybe you're better at regenerating than me.”

Maribel chuckled.

“I'm pretty good at choosing my faces.”

She poured an iridescent liquid in a cup and handed it to the Doctor. It smelled like roses, with a hint of mothballs and artron energy. 

“Time Roses tea !”  
The Doctor took a large sip and almost chocked.

“My apologize, I should have warned you the cup was piping hot.”

The Doctor grimaced and put the cup back on the saucer.

“Nah, it's fine. It's really good. Or must be really good. I'll tell you when I can feel my taste buds again.”

Maribel was staring at her with a friendly smile, the kind of smile that almost suggested a long and deep affection. The Doctor tried to concentrate. Time Lords didn't need to know each other's face to recognize a friend, but the Doctor had been fooled many times. She secretly hoped Maribel wasn't the Master again. Or herself. She usually had a hard time getting along with herself. She really needed a friend, or a stranger who could become a friend.

“It took you long enough to come, Doctor, but I'm glad we finally meet.”

“I'm sorry if I am too direct, but I need to know. Who are you ?”

“Oh, dear Doctor, you probably wouldn't believe it if I told you. But you can always try to find out by yourself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, the Doctor is finally here !  
> I am having so much fun writing Thirteen. She has such a unique speech pattern, it's really fun to read her lines with Jodie's accent.


	8. Apparitions stalk the night

Leela was facing Romana in silence, still waiting for the latest update. The Time Lady nodded and spoke softly, almost as if she was scared of her own words.

“Before I show you the camera record, I want you to know it's not enough of a proof to arrest Innocet. Nevertheless, it's still an extremely worrying situation we'll have to deal with sooner or later.”

“What happened ?” Leela burst in frustration.

Romana pressed a button on her desk and the screen behind her flickered on. Nausea rose in Leela's chest as she saw the image of Innocet alone in her cell, as clearly as if she was right behind a glass panel. It was so wrong, the poor woman should have been in her tower, with her Family, and not in an interrogation cell. She was sleeping peacefully, curled on a cold bench. Suddenly, she jerked up and rose on her feet.

She started walking around her cell, as if she was circling something or someone. She was talking too, but Leela couldn't make up any word at all. Then, she collapsed on the floor and woke up in panic.

“She walks in her sleep, how is this relevant ?” Leela growled as she flicked the screen off herself.

Romana lowered her head, hoping she could hide the terror in her eyes, but Leela could feel her fear radiating in the whole office.

“She's been infected by the Matrix, Leela.”

“I don't understand, you've operated an emergency shutdown. She was perfectly fine when she woke up.”

“No one can be infected by the Matrix and get away from it perfectly fine. Whatever entered her mind is still there, talking to her while she loses focus on reality.”

“And you think this something made her poison the magenta ?” 

Romana nodded.

“It's a possibility.”

Leela jumped on her feet, fist twitching by her side. If the person facing her hadn't been Romana, she wasn't sure she could have controlled herself anymore.

“It doesn't make any sense ! Why can't you Time Lords put your brilliant minds together and realize this whole parody of a murder drama makes no sense !”

“I know” Romana tried to calm her friend down.

“Then do something, Madam President !”

“It's what I'm doing ! Do you think it doesn't make me sick ? But we have to catch the culprit and soon, because someone is clearly trying to make a fool of me and to take control of Gallifrey. It could be another half-baked CIA plot, but if something really escaped the Matrix, who knows what damages it can do to the fabric of time itself ?”

Leela nodded, still pacing around the office. Romana wasn't getting an eye away from her as she did so.

“I can certify Innocet was herself the whole time we were together in the tower.”

“You can't, Leela. Mind parasites are very good at impersonating their hosts. If the creature has access to Innocet's memories, there is no way to tell them apart without a proper scan.”

“I want to see her !”

“Good, because it's what I was about to ask you next. I have questions to ask her, and I need a bodyguard in case the parasite tries something.”

Owis had finally been sent off to the tower. His life wasn't in danger anymore and the Chancellery Guard had decided he wasn't useful to the investigation. He had told everything he had to say. They knew the name of the merchant, the hour he'd been at the market and who he had met on his way. Owis had said all the truth, he had no reason to lie. 

Actually, he had omitted one little detail, but it wasn't relevant to the poisoning and he had promised to keep his mouth shut. Now he was alone in the dark, except for a few fledershrews fluttering under the ceiling, fear was creeping in his rather empty head. If anyone discovered he had carried a small package for Cousin Rynde, he would be in trouble. But if he talked, Cousin Rynde would send the Vampire of the Vaults on him and it would suck all his future regenerations up. He hoped Innocet would be back home soon, because she had promised she would build a cage for his tafelshrews, and his Cousins were bullying him when she wasn't around.

“Remember, Leela, there's a chance the person inside this cell isn't Innocet anymore. Stay on your guards and get ready for any eventuality.”

Leela nodded, and the two women walked through the sliding door. Behind it, Innocet was still sitting on the bench, staring right before herself. She didn't react to the arrival of the two newcomers.

“Hello, Innocet” Romana saluted softly as she got to her knees, placing herself at the prisoner's eye level.

“President, Lady Leela” the tired looking woman whispered softly.

Romana hesitated, then took her hands, forcing her to react. Innocet tensed a little, then grasped the hands back and relaxed. Leela, from the door, guessed they had established mental contact. So much for the cautious approach.

“I am sorry, Innocet. I know you didn't try to poison me, but I have to be sure of something. You will tell me the truth, okay ? Even if you are scared, remember, I am the only person who can help you right now.”

Innocet nodded silently.

“The security cameras have registered nocturnal activities last night. You spoke in your sleep and your body was like possessed. Do you have any memories of something or someone inside your mind ? It is highly possible you got hijacked by an unknown entity while you were channeling the Matrix.”

“Actually, I came to the same conclusion last night.” Innocet whispered, as she was too sacred of hearing the truth from her own ears.

“Can you tell me what you know ?”

Romana's expression was soft and caring. She had the face of a friend. Innocet wanted to trust her completely, and maybe to throw herself into her arms because she was so scared. Romana took the hint and sat by her side, allowing her to lean against her, hesitantly first. The Time Lady passed an arm around her shoulders, supporting her as she was on the verge of fainting.

“I saw her in a dream. I think it's a “her”, at least it looked and sounded like a woman.”

“Did she give you her name ?”

Innocet nodded.

“I called her Alice, because she took the appearance of several characters from the Alice's Adventures in Wonderland book. I think the first time I heard her voice she was reading a line from the book.”

“What did it say ?”

“I don't know. I barely remember last night's dream. It wasn't a vision, it was a simple dream, the most ordinary one. I was in the House, everyone was still alive and I was studying for my qualifications. Then she appeared to me and she laughed.”

“Is there anything else you remember ?”

“Maybe. I've acted strangely since I left the medical bay. I did things that didn't feel like me. But it wasn't bad, so I thought it was probably the excitement of starting a new life away from the darkness.”

“What kind of things ?” Romana asked. “It's very important you tell me.”

“I'm not sure. I felt lighter, less worried about the future. I've taken Owis to the market in the lower town and I tried to convince myself I needed to know the place, and that I could teach him to use money and be careful in the streets, but I think the real reason I did this was because I wanted to be out of the tower, away from my duties. I wanted to have fun, buy new dresses and eat fancy cakes.”

Romana took a deep breath and let Innocet go. Now she had told everything, she was regaining her composure and looked more like the proud Housekeeper she had met in the depths of Mount Lung.

“I don't know how much of your mind has been infected, but there is nothing wrong about wanting to leave everything behind. I'm not sure anymore, I wish the Doctor was here. He would know better. Maybe I am imagining things, maybe you aren't even infected.”

“I saw her in my dreams.”

“You said it yourself, it was a dream. I studied psychology long ago, when I was at the Academy. I think I can still put a basic diagnosis, and all I see is a perfectly normal answer to trauma.”

Innocet's eyes got wider and she covered her mouth with both hands.

“You think I'm losing my mind ?”

“I think you are compensating. I have no idea how you managed to stay mentally stable for 673 years, I suppose your sense of duty kept you on your feet all this time. But now your Cousins are safe and you don't have to fight for survival, the reality of what you've been through is crashing on you like a tidal wave. This “Alice” of yours, she's a construction of your mind. You want to escape, but you won't accept it because a Housekeeper doesn't leave her House.”

“So you think I'll eventually steal a TARDIS and leave Gallifrey ?” Innocet asked with a faint smile.

“What an idea” Romana answered with a chuckle “But if you do, I doubt you'll ever return, I've heard it's a rather addictive lifestyle.”

Innocet giggled, first politely, to slowly descended in a manic laugh. She wanted to run away so badly, and yet she needed to stay. Was it how he felt ? She pitied him, this urge was so powerful and yet empty. Time Lords weren't meant to live out of time, in a succession of fragmented instants.

The tea was wonderful. The Doctor could feel the artron energy contained in the TARDIS grown flowers going through her body. She worried for an instant it might actually intoxicate her and she knew how stupid she could be when she was drunk. Last time she had drank wine she had married Marilyn Monroe. At least, artron energy wasn't alcohol, it just made her sense of time more acute. She could feel each second passing by her her cells.

“Do you want to observe it, Doctor ?”

Maribel was standing near to her telescope. It was still too early for stargazing, and the weather was cloudy, but if there was Gallifreyan technology in this room, those inconveniences could probably be bypassed. 

“Where is Gallifrey, here and now ? I am a bit lost with linear history.”

Maribel nodded knowingly.

“She's back at her original coordinates. She looks so pretty from here.”

“Why did you run away ?”

“Isn't it a bit of a private question to ask a stranger ?” the scientist chided mischievously.

“I am sorry” the Doctor apologized. “I am so thrilled to finally meet someone from home who doesn't want to kill me.”

“How do you know I don't want to kill you ?”

“You could be the Master, I suppose.”

“Or Rassilon himself”

The Doctor took a few steps back and Maribel chuckled.

“I'm sorry if I scared you, Doctor. If it can make you feel better, I am not Rassilon. I just find it amusing to have you trying to guess when I already gave you all the clues.”

The Doctor frowned. She wasn't sure this whole expedition had been a good idea. When she had read the familiar presence of another TARDIS on Earth with her latest artron energy tracer, she should have expected to run into a renegade Time Lord. She only hoped she was a good one.

“Lord Ferain” 

“You summoned me, Madam President ?”

The Director of Allegiance walked into Romana's office flanked by two of his CIA men, all clad in black and white. The scoundrel wasn't hiding anymore. He managed to hide his surprise when he noticed Innocet sitting on a chair, facing the main entrance. She had a dignified expression. Those Housekeepers were too proud for their own good, convinced their psychic link to their old Houses was enough to give them some sort of legitimacy. In reality, they were barely vestiges of a fallen world, discarded dolls gathering dust in the attic of Gallifrey.

“Why don't we have an honest talk about the little incident of the poisoned magenta. I like this title, sounds like a cheesy detective novel” Romana suggested with a sharp smile.

“Very well, and why is our suspect out of her cell ?”

“You can't be serious, Lord Ferain. What's the point of the CIA if you can't tell the difference between an actual terrorist attack and a lame attempt to sully a rival House's name.” 

The old men threw a quick glance at Innocet and faced his President again.

“I saw the images, and I know you saw them too. This woman has been corrupted by her little journey into the Matrix. You might be our Lord President, but you still acted against the law when you overlooked the Chapterhouse's decision and meddled with the Matrix without any authorization.”

“Without any authorization ? My dear Lord Ferain, your mind is going soft with age ! I am Romanadvoratrelundar, President of Gallifrey.”

“Very well. Then, Madam President, why don't you order something to make sure your new protegee isn't a danger to the glory of Gallifrey.”

“The good old CIA and their Mind Probe, still subtle as a platoon of Jodoons” Romana scoffed.

“I am not joking, Madam President.”

Innocet shifted on her seat. Romana grew angrier.

“You can't seriously suggest we use the Mind Probe ? This artifact has been classified as a torture device and outlawed twenty centuries ago by our Lord President Pandak the Second.”

“As you said, you are Romanadvoratrelundar, President of Gallifrey.”

Romana was staring at the man before her in utter disgust. Innocet cleared her throat and both Time Lords turned their eyes to her.

“I studied the Laws of Gallifrey back in my youth, and I am pretty sure there is an exception to this decree. The Law of Justice and Chastisements stipulates the use of the Mind Probe is tolerated if the subject consents to it.”

Her remark was received by a deep silence from both parties. Romana shook her head, mouthing the words “no, please, no” while Ferain was jubilant like a youngster on his Nameday. 

“I consent to be submitted to the Mind Probe.”

“Innocet, you can't ask that !” Romana intervened with pleading eyes.

“With all my respect, my Lady President, I am allowed to know what happened to me in the Matrix access chamber. If I can't find a way to my own memories, maybe Lord Ferain can help me with his device.”

Innocet got on her feet and walked proudly to the old man. 

“This is a sensible decision, Housekeeper Innocet. Gallifrey will be forever grateful.”

“Lord Ferain, I won't let you abuse of a terrorized victim...”

“I am not a victim, and I am certainly not terrorized” Innocet contradicted her President with flames in her eyes.

“Very well” Romana complied dryly. “I wish you get out of here in one piece. I really don't want to tell the Doctor his favorite Cousin got her brain reduced to soup under my care.”

Ferrain bowed like a gentleman in front of Innocet and took her by the arm, both of them smiling like the cat who got the cream. But who was the cat and who was the cream was another question.

Owis wasn't really bright, but he had learned to be curious. He had transported a few packets for Cousin Rynde already, and of course he had looked into one of them. But it didn't make any sense. All there were in those packets were perfectly normal items : there had been a box of cookies (he had resisted to the temptation, because he was scared for his future regenerations), a pair of socks, a pack of cards. Nothing Cousin Innocet would have disapproved of. Or maybe Cousin Rynde had lost his mind and thought he was still threatened by the Drudges and old Satthralope. But since the poisoning, little cogs had started spinning in his head. What if Rynde's traffics had something to do with Innocet's dreadful situation ? His fear of the Vampire from the Vaults was having a hard battle with his childish need for Innocet's presence. Surely she could stop the Vampire, she was a friend of the President of Gallifrey, and she had always been very smart.

Cousin Rynde was so certain he was the master of this tower when Innocet was away that he hadn't even closed his door. Owis waited for him to go back to his unsavory pub and sneaked into the room. It was comforting to see there was another room as dirty and stinky as his own. 

It didn't take long for Owis to find one of the objects, a box of instant noodles (Rynde hadn't even touched them !). At the bottom of the box, there were numbers, written quickly with red ink. He had no idea what it meant, but he had learned enough from Innocet to know it wasn't a price tag. Using his minimal amount of brains, he tried to memorize the numbers, but finally came back with a piece of paper and a pen.

He couldn't wait to show this to the scary savage lady.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We'll finally get a few answers in the next chapter.  
> It's the first time I try to write a mystery story, so if someone is still reading, I would really appreciate a little comment with your theories, so I can have an idea of how obvious the truth is ^^.  
> I took a lot of inspiration from an existing story, but I won't tell you which one yet, because it would be too much of a clue.
> 
> Thanks for reading :3 !


	9. Let's live in a lovely cemetery

Innocet was standing in the orchard. The last sun rays of the evening were shinning through the crystal that adorned Rassilon's Rod. The majestic sculpture was yet another of Innocet's early years friends, back when she was still the youngest Cousin born from the Loom. At this time, Rassilon was still this figure of fairy tales, benevolent protector of the Looms and their offspring. Uncle Quences had told her Rassilon himself would bring her presents for Otherstide if she was nice and studied well. It had felt as believable as anything else back then, when her brainbuffing was still incomplete. The winced at the memory of Satthralope humiliating her in front of the whole Family on Otherstide's Eve dinner and Cousin Glospin calling her an idiot for weeks after the incident. She had resented Uncle Quences, he was the one who had lied to her. She had promised herself she would never lie to her charges when she would be the Housekeeper.

“You're still blaming the wrong person, Innocet.”

Of course, Alice was there. Innocet wasn't scared anymore, but she still didn't welcome the stranger in her head.

Then, everything became white and foggy. 

Innocet woke up in another medical bay. It took her a few minutes to remember how she had ended up there. The last thing she could remember was being tied to a scary device in the Vaults, deep below the Citadel.

“Madam President ?” she moaned, as her mouth still felt full of cotton balls.

Romana jolted on her chair and hurried to the Innocet, taking her hand in hers.

“How are you feeling ?”

“I am fine. When am I being submitted to the Mind Probe ?”

Romana frowned.

“You've already been, for five hours.”

Innocet noticed dried tears on Romana's face. The Time Lady grasped a glass of water from a nearby table and handed it over to her. Innocet emptied it in one trait, realizing how parched she was as soon as the lukewarm liquid touched her lips.

“What did they found ?”

Lord Ferain appeared from a dark corner of the room, a stack of papers in his hands.

“The data gathered by the Probe will be discussed with the President alone. That will be all, Housekeeper.”

“Does that mean I am free ?” Innocet asked hesitantly.

“Yes, yes” he hushed dismissively “You've done your part, now you may return to your Family.”

Innocet turned to Romana, who was still sitting by her side.

“What did you find ?”

“I am sorry, it is classified information. Try not to worry, you are free to go and I promise you'll never hear of this affair again.”

“What about Alice ?” she almost whimpered hating herself for that.

Romana exchanged a glance with Ferain and the old man nodded reluctantly.

“There is no Alice. As I suspected sooner, nothing invaded your mind.”

Innocet stood on her feet and tumbled, catching her fall by gripping on the bed.

“Please, tell me the truth. I've heard her voice again, just before I passed out.”

“I am terribly sorry” Romana whispered softly “But there is no Alice talking to you. Take a well deserved rest. The staff I appointed to your tower is perfectly qualified to take care of your Cousins, and maybe you should let them take care of you too.”

Innocet felt tears rising to her eyes, boiling behind her skin and turning her face red. Why didn't they listen ? Nobody ever listened. It was happening again, voices in her head and people dismissing her, whispering about her being irrational, hysterical, an unfortunate residue of the Old Times.

Romana talked in her communicator and Lady Leela appeared from behind a door.

“Please, Leela, take Innocet back to her tower, or wherever she wishes.”

Leela complied and grabbed Innocet by her shoulder, walking her out of the Mind Probe chamber. 

Romana was now alone with Lord Ferain. She stood and faced him in silence. They stared at each other for a while, waiting for the other one to step down. Romana finally swallowed her pride first and asked the anticipated words.

“It has been fun when it lasted, but now it's time to tell each other the truth.”

“I wouldn't have said it better” Ferain answered with a nasty grin of victory on his face. “Madam President, we've put each other on check mate and there is no coming back.”

Romana laughed mirthlessly.

“Why don't you start, then ? The CIA is responsible for the poisoning. You needed an excuse to submit the Housekeeper of Lungbarrow to the Mind Probe.” 

“When did you come to this conclusion ?” Ferain asked, neither denying nor assuming.

“Very simple : who benefits from the crime ?”

“Very good, Madam President, very good. May I dare invite you once again to join our ranks ?”

“Not even in your wildest dreams, Lord Ferain” Romana spitted back with all the venom she had. “How did you operate ?” 

“Oh, it was so easy. I think I've taken quite a liking in those miserable creatures we rescued underground. So much ambition and so little wits. My agent simply slipped the fruit in the bag when the dim one was looking elsewhere.”

“Like stealing candy to a baby. You CIA have no honor” Romana mocked dryly.

Ferain burst into a cold laughter and walked towards Romana, who didn't flinch.

“You are incredibly bold to talk about honor, Madam President. Why don't you expose to me your side of the story ? You don't have to be ashamed, I find it absolutely abject in the most brilliant way.”

Innocet followed Leela in the dark corridors up to the Presidential Office. Both women didn't say a word during the trip back. Innocet once again couldn't remember what had happened to her. It was becoming an habit, she thought darkly. 

“We are back to the surface” Leela commented to break the uncomfortable silence. “Andred asked me to keep this with me.”

Leela produced a small tin box from her pocket and she handed it over to Innocet. She opened it and smiled warmly for the first time since her arrest. Every single of her personal belongings were here, her cards, the old keys of the late House and most importantly, the data core in its golden pendant.

“Some things are better kept away from the CIA” Leela explained as Innocet was suspending the pendant to her neck.

“Thank you, lady Leela” she said earnestly 

“You're welcome. Is there anywhere I can take you ?”

Innocet nodded.

“There is a place I'm longing to visit, but I must check on my Cousins first.”

“To the tower, then” Leela prompted.

Innocet smiled and followed eagerly. She had missed everyone so much in her cell. She hoped no quibble had escalated too far in her absence. She didn't like leaving her Cousins unsupervised, and she certainly didn't trust any of Romana's so called qualified staff. Only her knew what was going on most of the time, thanks to her psychic abilities, but also her own upbringing between the walls of the House of Lungbarrow. There were centuries old tensions here only a Loom relative could perceive.

“I'm going to wait here” Leela said as they reached the main entrance.

Innocet frowned, but didn't comment. Even if it hurt her feelings, she could understand why a stranger to the Family might want to stay as far as possible from them. A rush of adrenaline ran through her as she entered the Hexagonal Hall. She wasn't sure if it was trepidation for the chaos that could be awaiting her, or excitement to finally go home. For the first time, she realized she had called the tower “home” and the idea was strangely comforting.

Inside, everything was relatively normal. The sun was almost reaching the central table. She looked around with new emotions. There were too many empty cups on the tables, and three board games had been left unattended, with probably missing pieces already, but those little inconveniences warmed her immediately. There was life between those walls. She walked in confidently, nodding at everyone present by the fireplace. She barely got a few mumbles as an answer.

Jobiska and Owis were nowhere to be seen and Innocet headed to the old lady's room. She knocked and entered with the largest smile on her lips.

Inside, little Jobiska was playing a game of Serpents and Siege Engines with Cousin Salpash. None of them noticed Innocet so she stayed at the door in silence for a while, until Jobiska, who was facing her, finally lifted her head.

“Innocet, is it you ? Come in, my dear, don't stay halfway in the corridor like that.”

Innocet obeyed and she hugged both her Cousins. She noticed her cheeks were wet with tears.

“Where have you been, dear ?” Jobiska asked “You are awfully late for breakfast.”

“I'm back, it's what matters” she said with a small chuckle.

Cousin Salpash avoided her look and muttered an excuse to leave the room. Innocet wondered what they all knew. She had a strange feeling that things had been said in her absence and she wasn't sure if she wanted to know. She only hoped Rynde hadn't spread too many rumors here and outside of the tower.

As she was thoroughly putting the game back in its box, she heard the door open and Owis burst in the room. 

“Owis, how many times do I have to tell you ? Well behaved people knock before they walk inside a room.” Innocet scolded, her made up irritation betrayed by a large smile. She crossed the space between them in one leap and threw her arms around her younger Cousin's shoulders. This time, she openly let her tears run.

“My goodness, I'm so relieved to see you” she exclaimed “How are you ? Are you still hurting ?”

Owis pushed her away awkwardly.

“I'm fine. They asked me questions and I told everything I could remember. I'm sorry, Innocet.”

She frowned.

“What are you sorry for ?”

“They say it's my fault if they took you away and that I should have eaten the poisoned fruit outside and die there.”

Innocet tensed and put her fists on her hips.

“Who said that ?” she asked threateningly.

Owis took a few steps backward

“You know, Cousins, here and there.”

“I really, really hope for Rynde's sake he has nothing to do with this ! You don't have to be sorry for anything. We've been used by the CIA for Omega knows what motives and I won't let anyone blame any of us, may it be within or outside this Family.”

“So it's over ?” Owis asked hopefully “You're back for good.”

“I am back for good” Innocet said, then she remembered Leela waiting for her outside and bit her lower lip. “But I have one last thing to do. Actually, we could do this together, you, Jobiska and I.”

“What do you have to do ?” Owis asked wearily.

Innocet tilted her head and glanced at Jobiska, then at Owis.

“What about a day out on Mount Lung ? You could pick berries when I try to locate remnants of memories from the House.”

Owis frowned.

“The House ?”

“There must still be roots underneath. Soon we'll have a seed to plant and nurture, but I am convinced there is still something that survived out there. I can almost feel it when I close my eyes.”

Innocet rushed to the kitchen and came back with a heavily loaded basket. She had the brightest smile on her lips. She handed the basket to Owis and helped Jobiska on her feet. She wanted desperately to leave the Capitol today, but not alone. She would take her loved ones with her and she would finally have one sunny day. 

Leela was still waiting in the corridor. She winced in surprise when she realized Innocet wasn't coming alone. She was helping a very small and frail old lady while her Cousin Owis was struggling with a heavy basket.

“Are you still ready to take me where I want ?” She asked with a radiant face.

“You want to go on a picnic ?” Leela asked dumbfounded.

“Can you take us to Mount Lung ? I've never used a transmat booth before” she added apologetically.

“Of course” Leela answered with a smile “I haven't been on a picnic for decades. Andred's Cousins aren't very keen on eating on the grass.”

Innocet smiled and an affectionate mist blurred her eyes.

“I used to go on picnics with Snail, I mean, the Doctor, when we were younger.”

Leela could easily imagine the Doctor going on picnics on the wild slope of the mountain. She wondered why she never had asked him anything about his youth. He would probably have dodge the ball, but at least she would have tried. She wondered what a Gallifreyan childhood was like, and was she could expect for her child to be.

The grass was lusher and the air warmer than the last time they had stood on the slope of Mount Lung, on that dreadful day. Innocet took a deep breath and chased the thought away, taking in the magnificent landscape. 

“Look, the orchard !” Innocet pointed as a jungle of wild trees and thorns. “It's a bit overgrown, but the fruit trees are still there. And Cadon River should be flowing right behind this grove.” 

Leela had taken the small committee to the Sector 6 outer transmat booth and entered the coordinates to Mount Lung. How they would come back to the Capitol was another issue, but she would think of that later. Standing next to her, Owis had watched her type the code with an uncharacteristic interest. 

The rumbles of where the House of Lungbarrow had emerged from the ground were now partially covered by grass. Innocet couldn't keep her eyes away from the large irregularity, as they headed towards what had been an ornamental garden, centuries ago. The river bank was still relatively clean of thorns, and a perfect place for a picnic. Jobiska could sit on the stone bench while Innocet and Leela would install themselves on the grass. Owis was already out of sight, as he had taken a cobblemouse on a chase.

“I hope there aren't any pigbears here” Innocet wonder wearily.

“I doubt they would infest such a small wood, but I can check if you want” Leela proposed.

“You carry a child !” Innocet protested. “I'm going to find Owis and ask him to stay close. Why don't you prepare the tablecloth and dishes ?”

Leela grunted, but she complied anyway. She had almost reached the term of her pregnancy, soon she would be able to exterminate every single pigbear out of Lungbarrow. Meanwhile, she was curious of what Innocet had gathered in the basket.

“Don't worry about them, my dear” little Jobiska said with her trembling voice “Those Time Tots love to go on an adventure, but they will be back before the night.”

Leela sat on the bench, near to the old lady. Creeping ivy of silver blue color had covered the worn out bench, making it surprisingly soft. With the breeze in her hair and the blossom-thieves chirping, she almost felt back on her planet. She turned to the old lady and smiled.

“Isn't it a nice day ? I hope the trip didn't exhaust you.”

“I am not that old” she tiny woman protested “I am only a thousand, fourth regeneration !”

“I wonder what Innocet hopes to achieve today. She is planning something, isn't she ?”

Jobiska smiled knowingly.

“She wants to find the House, dear.”

Leela perked her head.

“What do you mean ?”

“She doesn't believe the House is truly dead. Deep under the ground, some roots have survived. Innocet wants to speak to them, to remind them the Family is still alive and waiting. At least that's what she thinks.”

Leela looked at the old woman. She was senile, but she still had a good grasp on what was going on. She wondered how many the Lunbarrovians knew of their situation, and of the Capitol affairs. The most self-aware of them would make perfect spies, who would suspect a tiny, wizened old lady who couldn't remember her own regeneration number, a boyish man still brainbuffing despite being older than some civilizations or an emaciated young man whose face twitched like one of a small rodent ? And there was Rynde, this one was certainly not harmless, neither in appearance nor in motives.

Innocet was getting deeper and deeper into the woods. The ripe magentas and ulandas were bending the trees branches and the ground was covered in ivy and other creepers. In this state of decrepitude, the orchard was beautiful and alive on its own. While looking for her cousin, Innocet was still trying to contact the House. She could feel it when she was alone in her room. The seeds and roots growing underground, feeding in the soil, subterranean water streams and remnants of their memories. She would very soon contact a Geneticist from the Chaptehouse and ask for a Seed. She couldn't wait to nurture it, raise it with love before planting it in the soil on a beautiful Founding Day. There hadn't been a Founding Day in thousands of years. She didn't want the new House of Lungbarrow to grow on a void. It would contain the data from the Loom, it would need some good roots. If she could enter in contact with the remains of the old House, she could nurture them and bring them back to life too, and both the young and the old roots would merge, and the House of Lungbarrow would rise again, regenerated and still alive.

Innocet cherished the past as much as she cherished the future. She carried in her hearts every tragedy, every suffering that had happened between those walls, but also every joy and bright afternoons. She couldn't wait to see her dear missing ones again, because deep below the ground, the spirits of the unburied dead were still alive, sleeping in the dormant roots.

“What a nice feeling” a familiar voice almost chanted as a silhouette was swinging, perched on a branch.

Alice jumped on the grass and walked to Innocet.

“Nice clouds, up there. Your Cousin Arkhew would have loved them.”

“What are you doing here ?” Innocet asked, trying to hide the fear in her voice. “Am I dreaming ? I don't want to wake up in this cell again.”

Alice giggled with her unsettling voice.

“You are not dreaming, Innocet ”

“Then I am hallucinating with open eyes ?”

The shimmering figure of a girl walked closer. Innocet noticed she wasn't a shimmering figure anymore, but a perfectly solid form of a young looking woman. She was wearing a black cape and her hair was tied in a practical bun.

“Neither !”

She jumped on Innocet and almost toppled her down.

“You are a real person !” she almost yelped, before straightening to regain her dignity. 

“As real as you are !”

“Then... I wasn't possessed. You entered my mind when my defenses were low, but you are no less corporeal than I am.”

“Gotcha !”

Innocet cursed under her breath. Her, a telepathy and mind reading specialist, had been unable to recognize a fellow mind reader. If anyone in the tower learned that, she would become the laughing stock of both the Family and the Chapterhouse.

“How did you get here ? Did you follow us ?”

“I got my own ways” the woman shrugged. “By the way, your Cousin is just a few groves away from here. He found a glade full of interesting things to gather. You should have taken a basket.”

Innocet looked in the direction pointed by Alice. When she turned around, the mysterious stranger had disappeared. 

Lord Ferain and Romana were sitting in the Presidential office. On the desk in front of them lied a single blank page : the result of the Mind Probe test.

“You know I could have you put on trial for high treason, Madam President. Consider yourself lucky we have similar interests here.” 

“On what bases, do tell me ?” Romana retorted calmly.

“First for setting up a decoy meeting to deceive the Prydonian Chapterhouse Council while you were illegally tempering with the Matrix. And if it's not enough to convinced public opinion, I could add that you've used the Mind Probe on Innocet, Housekeeper of Lungbarrow, without her consent and appropriated a part of her memories."


	10. The Gallifrey the Gods loved

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yesterday I went out for the first time since the begining of the lockdown, almost 2 months ago. I had almost forgotten how fresh air feels on skin. Walking alone in the green grassland under a perfect blue sky in my light summer dress felt like heaven. I wrote this chapter sharing Innocet's sense of wonder !

The suns were already hiding behind the crest of Mount Lung, turning the sky into an ocean of golds and copper. Leela was lying down in the grass, hands behind her head, eyes closing lazily. It was dangerously easy to leave Romana and the Capitol's playground fights behind. This was a Gallifrey she could get used to. The tiny old woman had fallen asleep on the stone bench and the overgrown boy had returned to the woods with the picnic basket for picking fruits. Innocet was sitting silently on her heels, eyes closed and hands joined on her lap, likely praying to some invisible forces. The breeze was playing with the short strands of her hair and the light fabric of her crimson dress and brown shawl. 

“Do you feel something ?” Leela asked.

Innocet didn't reply for a while, then she let herself fall on the ground and turned to her companion.

“It's somewhere underneath. Most of the roots have died, but the heart of the House is still alive. Don't you feel it pulsating under the soil ?”

“No, I'm sorry. Maybe you already have a connection to it.”

“The House knew I was going to marry it when Housekeeper Satthralope would be gone.”

“Are you scared ?” Leela asked. “I mean, are you sure you want to do it ?”

“Marrying the House ? I was loomed for that purpose. Satthralope was already on her last regeneration when the Cousin I replaced died.”

“It's not what I asked you.” 

“I know. To answer your question, of course I am scared, even if I've had centuries to prepare myself. I am almost one thousand, it's a respectable age for marriage.”

“Only one thousand” Leela teased her “That's still quite young !”

“You're right” Innocet replied, sarcasm flying above her head. “Housekeeper Satthralope was very old and tired. I have no idea how she managed for so long ?”

“You mean covering Glospin's crime ?”

“I mean protecting us all. This must have been a constant fight to keep her own thoughts away. Can you imagine, lying to yourself for 673 years ?”

“You lied too.”

“I only hid the truth to protect them. The House was on my side, it had nothing to do with Satthralope's sacrifice.”

“You still have respect for her.” 

Innocet got up on her feet and watched the sky, protecting her eyes with one hand. Her silhouette was almost a shadow against the metallic sky. Here, on the ruins of the House of Lungbarrow, she looked nothing like a scared young girl. Leela could almost feel the years over her head, and the wisdom she carried with them.

“Of course I do. She had many flaws, she made us all miserable, and she employed herself to destroy Snail's life, but in the end she saved is all, and I don't think I'll ever have the third of her mental strength.” 

“You are strong enough, you just don't realize it yet.”

Innocet shrugged and removed her shawl to put it on Jobiska's shoulders. The old lady was muttering in her sleep. 

“And you, Lady Leela, are you scared ?”

Leela nodded.

“Yes, a bit. They say it's normal to be scared, that nothing can prepare you to the arrival of a child.”

“And Andred ?”

“He's even more than me” Leela snorted “He has never seen a baby in his life.”

“I would be scared out of my wits too if I were him.”

“Do you think it will take time for these things to return to normal ?” Leela asked.

“What things ?” Innocet frowned.

“Babies and children, now the Looms are obsolete.”

Innocet's face tensed and she shifted away.

“Things are already normal” she retorted bitterly.

“You know what I mean” Leela insisted.

“No I don't. I was born from the Loom of Lungbarrow, like my predecessor and their predecessor for thousands of years. I am very happy for you and Andred, and I hope womb-born children will thrive on Gallifrey, but that doesn't mean Old Blood Houses are obsolete, as you said.”

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you.”

“Don't be” Innocet said with an apologetic smile “You are right, it's time for Gallifrey to move on from its past.”

“If you really want to marry a sentient House and spend the rest of your life locked up with the same 44 Cousins visiting you twice a year, then it's what's normal for you. No matter how incomprehensible it is to me or any other non-Gallifreyan, only your people can know what's good for them.”

“Thank you, Lady Leela. Your words mean a lot to me.”

The two women exchanged a smile and Leela tried to get up painfully. Innocet offered her a hand and the warrior accepted it in silence. As their hands touched, Leela felt something run in her mind. It wasn't unlike the Doctor's charismatic aura, only more powerful and of a calmer nature. She wondered what it felt like to enter minds and feel the thoughts of people around. Was there any moment of silence in Innocet's head ? They were so alike in appearance and yet alien to each other. There was a new bond of camaraderie built between them, as she expected a child for the future, Innocet was expecting something too. 

“I wish you all the best” she said “may your Loom bring you healthy and smart Replacements for the lost ones.”

Innocet bowed her head.

“Thank you. May our Families be forever bound by the links of friendship.”

“Yeah, I have no doubt they will.”

“You don't get it, Lord Ferain” Romana answered with contempt “You have no idea of what is going on.”

The Director of Allegiance scoffed with disdain.

“All I know is that you've been using this girl as a puppet, and you went as far as submitting her to an illicit device. How's your pretty immaculate conscience after that ?”

Romana shook her head with the expression of a teacher facing a particularly obtuse student.

“I don't know how to explain it to you. What happened in the Panopticon wasn't part of the program, but it happened nevertheless. I've never planned to manipulate Innocet, or to use her as a proxy. All I wanted was to ensure fair reparations for the House of Lungbarrow.”

“The renegade House that committed various crimes against Gallifrey, but I've stopped questioning your sense of justice long ago.”

The President sighed and poured herself a cup of strong tea. The sky was getting darker and she hadn't planned to spend her evening in Ferain's company, but the old serpent hadn't showed any signs of leaving soon. She despised everything about the Intervention Agency, but Ferain was right on one point : they were on the same side.

“I saved Innocet's life. If I hadn't brought her to the Vaults rapidly enough, the Matrix data would have destroyed her brain.”

“Is it that bad, then ? Another ancient creature trapped within a Matrix partition by our careless predecessors ?”

Romana let out a joyless chuckle.

“I wish it was. I'd rather deal with the legendary Zagreus himself than with... whatever I've witnessed that day.”

“I know you don't like us, Madam President, but if the situation is as bad as you think it is, you'll need us on your side.”

“I know. And the most ironic part of it is that you probably created this mess in the first place.”

“Meaning ?”

Romana pulled a file from her desk.

“Probability engine readings ?”

“It's only a fraction of what I've been able to produce without endangering the Matrix beyond repair.”

Ferain flicked through the thick pile of papers.

“They're all about the Doctor. How can a single man have so many different lives. Was his biodata redacted ?”

“You know very well they weren't. All of that is the truth.”

Ferain frowned and for the first time, Romana could sense a fracture in his facade of all-mightiness.

“It's impossible, that would mean...”

“A paradox.”

“The Doctor is still alive, no one can still be alive after so many damages in their own time stream.”

“If you think the Doctor's life is a paradox, you should have a glance on Gallifrey's whole history, if the simple thought of it wasn't already a mortal danger to your mind.”

Ferain was growing even paler than usual, and Romana could see sweat drops forming on his forehead. Watching this cold ice man melting in a puddle brought a sense of dread on her she had not yet dared contemplating. As if sharing the truth was making it real. She had sent Leela away for help and not even K9 had witnessed her cover up. She had done her best to close her eyes, ears and mind to the data extracted from Innocet's brain, but the fractions she had absorbed despite her will were already putting her in danger if she allowed herself to merely think about them.

“You know how much I despise lies, Lord Ferain, but there are secrets buried deep inside the Matrix that could destroy the fabric of reality at the simple mention of them.”

“Is Innocet safe ?”

Romana frowned, taken aback by the thoughtful question.

“I think so. I didn't know you cared about her.”

“I don't” Ferain replied coldly “What I meant was, is it safe to have her roaming around Gallifrey, or should we not better terminate her ?”

“Over my dead body, and I still have a few left” Romana growled.

Innocet was getting deeper into the woods, looking for Owis once again. She had left Lady Leela and Cousin Jobiska by the shore and was enjoying loneliness. The thorns gripping on her skirt were no bother to her. She even found amusement in avoiding the pools of nettles and jumping across the large roots. The fruits tasted the same than in her memories and each bite was bringing her back to sun flooded memories. Laughter echoing in the valley as she was chasing Snail down the gardens. He would always tease her, stealing her book or the needle work she was busying herself on. Anything to get her out of her room. She would complain vocally back then, but now she was forced to admit it had been fun. She wondered if the new Replacements would tease each others like a litter of fawn-kittens.

She finally found her younger Cousin in a clearing. He was lying down on the moss, staring at the branches above his head. She noticed the discarded basket by his side, full with fruit, mushrooms and nettles. She remembered her promise to bake a nettle pie and smiled, mildly worried about Owis being able to carefully pick up nettles. It had been part of her job, long ago. Drudges could have done it, they didn't get blisters, but Satthralope knew how to make a Loomling suffer and she didn't need an occasion for her unusual punishments. She hated nettles back them, both living and cooked. Now she felt a strange kind of nostalgia. She would always be on nettles chores, even when she would wear the wooden ring on her finger.

Taking a few steps forward, she glanced at the branches and noticed the object of Owis's fascination : blossom thieves had nested in the branches. She sat on a rock and watched too.

“Blossom thieves” she explained softly “the Drudges used to scare them away because they would eat all the fruits before they were ripe”

“They're funny” Owis protested as if it was the most sensible argument. Innocet giggled.

“Yes, they are. The sky is getting dark, we should go home.”

“Already ?” the boy protested

“Lady Leela probably wants to be with her husband, we shouldn't take advantage of her generosity any longer.”

“But we'll come back ?” 

“Sure. I know where the transmat booth is now, and I have the code. We should get personal teleportation devices. Well, I should get one, not sure about the rest of you, though” she added with a chuckle.

Suddenly, Innocet felt something wet on her forehead. Owis must have felt it too because her watched at the sky bewildered. Innocet laughed softly at his reaction, but she couldn't deny the sense of wonder overcoming her too. Shortly, the pitter-patter of the rain was surrounding them, reverberating on every silver leaves above their heads like tiny umbrellas. Innocet and Owis exchanged a glance and the older Cousin stepped out of the tree's shelter, embracing the wide sky above her. Rain was heavier every second, covering everything like a curtain. It was fresh and liberating and Innocet could only rejoice with the low and heavy clouds finally releasing their burden. She extended her hand and felt the rain running down her fingers. Each drop was like a small miracle, a piece of the sky she had almost forgotten. 

In the Darkness, rain was only the name given to a number of inconveniences. It was the blackish liquid that ran into some fireplaces and extinguished the flames. It was the damp air that gave everyone rheumatism and fever, insinuating within the walls and giving every curtain and blanket a rank smell. It was also the heavy leaks that ended up flooding whole corridors, mainly in the northern parts of the building. Innocet had forgotten how cleansing and pure the rain was above ground level. She reveled in it for a few minutes, tasting the drops on her tongue and smelling the mint and flowers around her. Finally noticing she was getting wet, she came back to reality. 

“We need to join Leela and get back to the Capitol now.”

Owis made a grimace and hesitantly extended an arm through the curtain of rain. Innocet smiled encouragingly. 

“It's only water. We'll get into dry clothes at home.”

Innocet was drenched to the bones and could have been on a swim. Rain flattened short strands of hair over her forehead and was dipping from the tip of her nose and chin and filled her senses with the taste of fresh water. She was laughing too. 

“I don't like it ! It's wet and it's cold !” Owis whined.

A low grunting sound rolled from afar, reverberating against the mountain's highs, followed by a sharp flash of white light. Innocet looked at the sky, shielding her eyes behind dripping fingers. The storm was coming right to them. She grabbed Owis by the hand and forced him into the rain, ignoring his yelping of terror.

“We've got to hurry up and get out of here !” she had to yell to make her voice stand up against the rain. “The storm is getting closer.”

Not letting go of her Cousin's hand, she cut through the ivy and thorns infested orchard. The ground was slippery they both tripped several times on roots or moss covered rocks.

“What was that ?” Owis asked as another lightning crossed the sky.

“Lighting !” Innocet explained quickly as she was clearing the path with a long stick. “Electricity in the air. We have to quit this forest before it comes too close, if the light touches a tree, it could start a fire.”

Owis yelped and almost landed face first in the grass.

“Don't worry, it's still on the other side of the mountain. We'll be home before it's here.”

As soon as they reached the end of the orchard, Innocet stopped and let herself drop on the ground, shaking and laughing completely out of control. Her dress was heavy and she could feel her linen undergarments stick to her skin. It was cold and uncomfortable, and yet it made her feel alive. Owis was looking at her as if she had lost her mind. She caught a fallen branch on the ground and swayed it in his direction, splashing him with even more water. He looked at her bewildered, than started laughing too. If Innocet was starting the water fight, the order of the universe had really gone upside down. He jumped in a puddle, sending water everywhere. She got on her feet, still shaken by the euphoria of the moment.

“I hope Lady Leela and Cousin Jobiska have found a shelter” she finally admitted guiltily “I would never forgive myself if they caught their death.”

Rushing to the shore, she was relieved to find both women under a protrusion of the rock. The ivy had turned it into a vegetation cavern.

“Here you are !” Leela exclaimed. “I was getting worried. I've got only one teleportation device, so we'll have to hold onto each others.” 

Innocet nodded and pulled both Owis and Jobiska in a tight embrace. Leela grabbed them by the shoulders and set the teleportation device on single-handly. There was a small explosion in the air and everyone dropped inside a perfectly clean corridor, bringing a micro-span of raining with them. Innocet let herself drop against a wall and started laughing again.

“Dear Rassilon, we're such a mess. I should as well go fetch a mop.”

Cousin Jobiska frowned, as she just realised both Owis and Innocet were drenched.

“Did you two went on a swim with your clothes on ? Wait until the Housekeeper find you and you'll get a jolly kick at the bottom !”

“We forgot the picnic basket in the forest” Owis suddenly remembered.

Innocet and Leela exchanged a glance and burst into another fit of giggles.

Early Gallifreyan Time Maps were beautiful. They looked like intricate lace patterns between a constellation of fixed points. To be exact, they were lace patterns, made of fine gold thread intertwining and crossing each other between tiny crystal needle-pins sewn on dark paper. The Doctor was staring at them in a mix of reverence and delight, as Maribel Hartman was pulling more books from outside an old wooden wardrobe.

“I'm glad I've been able to save them” she proudly told the Doctor.

“Where did you get them ?” the Time Lady asked with a large smile “They look older than my own TARDIS.”

“I've traveled a lot, back in my days” Maribel answered with a shrug “The Time Lords aren't really attached to those paper antiques. Not very suitable for time travel, screens and interactive maps are easier to use.”

“It's true, but they don't have this smell !”

The scientist smiled fondly and joined the Doctor at the center table. Books and maps were scattered all around a large machine that made most of the central piece. The Doctor wasn't sure about this object function, but it looked like some spare piece for a large telescope. The large room was both an office and a lab, but it was so neat and tidy the Doctor would almost have confused it for a tea parlor.

“The map you're looking at is obsolete” Maribel said “Those two points collapsed during the War, causing large ripples in this whole galaxy, and a few tremors there, because of this wormhole.”

The Doctor smiled sadly at the evocation of the War and picked a book on top of the newly augmented pile. It was a poetry book about the Dark Times. Only a very small number of Time Lords were interested in early Gallifreyan history, and the Doctor had hardly been part of them until very recently. 

“Are you interested in the Intuitive Revelation ?” 

“Maybe” the Doctor muttered with a frown. 

“It's nice to see young people interested in classics” Maribel teased airily.

“I am hardly a young person” the Doctor retorted.

“At the scale of Time itself, you are only a toddler making your first steps.”

The Doctor nodded with a grunt and turned around, as she attempted to shield herself from the other woman's peering eyes. She had lied, both to herself and to her Gallifreyan host. She had read every single book about early Gallifreyan history she could find in her TARDIS library and in every data bank she could have found in the known universe. She had read many myths and serious essays written by the best archaeologists. She had even tried to get in touch with Bernice, but had remembered she was close to a certain Time Lord who might or might not be a relative of hers, and she didn't want that to become a family affair. Of all those tales, there had to be part of truth, disseminated across the universe like dandelion seeds. If only Tecteun was still alive... Maybe they were, but there were so little chance. Even Time Lords didn't live that long. 

“I miss Gallifrey” Maribel suddenly said out of nowhere.

“Why didn't you try to get back, then ?” the Doctor asked dismissively, too busy deciphering the High Gallifreyan scripture. 

“Because I can't. Can I tell you a secret, Doctor ?”

“Sure, I love secrets ! Well, I don't, but people seems to think I do. I must have a secret lover face, maybe it's because of the question marks ? Where are my question marks ? I lose them faces ago ! Sorry, I'm rambling, go on please.”

“The reason why I left Gallifrey.”

The Doctor lifted her head from the book and looked at the professor intensely for a few seconds, before playing uninterested again.

“I was bored, so I stole something on a whim and I ran away.”

“Really ? How original !”

“Sadly, I didn't know how precious my prize was. You never know what you're going to find in junkyard, sometimes the key stone of a whole civilization is wrapped in rags.”

The Doctor nodded, her eyes stuck on a single word since Maribel had started talking.

“But someone I trusted double-crossed me. She was so dear to me, like a sister, is such things as families existed among my people. She took everything from me, my treasure, my destiny, and maybe the glory of Gallifrey herself.”

Let me guess, this person was me, the Doctor muttered for herself, in a dark part of her mind even the most efficient of mind readers couldn't reach. She had played fool so far, but it didn't mean she hadn't noticed the other woman scanning her mind thoroughly.

“I suppose you want it back, the stolen treasure you claim property upon.”

“How perspicacious of you, Snail.”


	11. Beware the Umbrella Left There Forever

“The Snow Queen could no longer keep the Doors of Time closed to the Heart. Far away, back to the Citadel, little Kai and Gerda lived happy for the rest of their thirteen lives as they had understood no one can reach eternity by Superstition or Reason only.”

Innocet smiled as she closed her latest adaptation of the Earth fairy tale known as the Snow Queen and gave a rounded glance at the small assembly gathered by the fireplace. Only twelve of the twenty Cousins she had managed to reunite for her reading were asleep, she refused to count the blank faces staring at her with glassy eyes as sleepers, so she decided it had been a success. With a bright smile, she turned to Owis who was her only active audience.

“I don't understand, Cousin, why was Kai unable to write the word “eternity” with the ice triangles ? Middle Gallifreyan is just a bunch of triangle anyway. Was he trying to write in Circular ?”

“You can't even read Circular, Owis” a sleepy voice muttered from the assembly, soon followed by choir of mocking whispers. Innocet lifted her hand to her forehead, feeling the early signs of a telepathic migraine.

“It's a metaphor, Owis” she explained anyway “it means eternity cannot be reached by cold reason alone.”

“You can still write pretty much anything in Middle Gallifreyan using triangles.”

Innocet sighed and poured herself another cup of spice tea. She could hardly judge the quality of her work by the reaction of her Cousins, the Loom of Lungbarrow hadn't produced a single mildly intellectual mind for generations and the few ones who could have appreciated her poetry were either dead or out of reach, withdrawn far inside their own minds. Near the cold hearth, Cousin Maljamin was twitching in his sleep. Innocet smiled and crossed the plush rug to rearrange the crocheted blanket over his shoulders. 

“You can keep your bollocks for your delicate little Time Lord friends, in this Family we have no time for nursery stories” Rynde spat from the faraway end of the room. 

Innocet rolled her eyes, swallowing words she might regret later. Mentioning Cousin Glospin's delusions would be more than unwelcome in that situation and she didn't want the silent antagonism to escalate into an open argument. She was better than that. Apart from Rynde's rivalry, she had no shadows hindering her hopes. She knew whatever the House had done to the runaway Cousins was irreversible, but she could deal with that. After 673 years of dark disgrace, she could deal with anything. 

“My delicate Time Lord friends are the ones who gave us our Prydonian privileges back, a whole floor in one of the most prestigious spires and supporting staff to help me taking care of the lot of us. Please, never forget that” she retorted coldly.

“Hope you remember your place well, Housekeeper, you might fall from quite high.”

Innocet scoffed and allowed herself a last glance to the sleepy Cousins by the fireplace. None of them had been angels before the disgrace, and even now, reduced to shadowy remnants of their previous selves, they had kept remarkable abilities for deception and bullying. Despite everything, they were her Family, and after centuries of protecting them, she could not deny she cherished every single of those ghastly faces, including Rynde, at least when he was far enough from her eyes and mind's reach. She couldn't be less bothered, she knew he was only animated by spite, because on a Lungbarrovian scale, her road was paved with success. 

“Don't be like this, Cousin Rynde” she chastised patiently “You know very well I don't pursue personal glory, but only the good of the Family.”

“And what good have your little fairy tales brought to us, Innocet ?” he mocked “Unless you got the House enrolled in the Cerulean Chapter, but I'd rather be born a Shobogan.”

“That's pretty rich coming from someone who used to be a lackey to the Dromeian gentry.”

Rynde grunted, out of witty retort, and dragged himself to a service corridor, his long and dirty hair falling over a oily face. Innocet shrugged. She couldn't help but think he was responsible for his own misfortune. Glory had rarely be found while getting drunk in a dingy pub. What a waste, he was the only Family member who could have earned himself a future. The dead didn't have such a chance, neither had the poor devils sleeping by the fireplace. 

“Innocet, will you bring me something back from your party ?” she heard Owis ask hopefully. 

“Of course I will” she smiled at him. Since Rynde had made more interesting connections in the Lower Town, he had completely forgotten Owis and the poor boy was finally getting a chance, free from the aggravating influence of his Cousin. 

Noticing the ceiling window had gone a dark shade of copper, Innocet excused herself and left to her rooms, only coming out fully prepared with subtle makeup and a flowing beige dress embroidered with golden patterns. She took a carpet bag full of books and her fanciest cape. She left by the main entrance, wishing a good evening to her Cousins. 

The tarnished copper nights were another of the things Innocet was slowly getting used to. With the lights of the city, the surface of the surrounding glass-like force field would soon get pitch black. In the Southern Range, the deepest hours of the night were so dark one could almost see the stars with bare eyes. Nevertheless, despite it's metallic sheen, the Capitol was far from a dead place. Innocet could see the faint lights of the Lower Town from the bridge she was crossing, and she vaguely mused with the idea of having a nocturnal stroll, before reminding herself she had a dignity to preserve. 

She crossed by several Time Lords before passing Sector 5 gates. Guards in colorful uniforms, officials in richly decorated robes. All of them nodded, or acknowledging her with a “Madam”. She wondered how many of them were mistaking her for a Time Lady, and how they would look at her if they knew she hadn't even registered for the Academy exam entrance.

“Innocet !” a voice called her. She turned around and caught a glimpse of a bright blue robe. Then, she was welcomed by a friendly face framed with pale blond hair in an elaborate braid crown.

“Good evening, Lady Iffalunar” Innocet bowed in front of the Cerulean Head Archivist. 

“I am relieved to see you alive and well.” 

Innocet froze, mortified at the idea the whole Capitol might know for the poisoning affair and what had happened to her next.

“I heard you had been caught in a storm while visiting the remains of your House. It must have been terrifying.”

Innocet allowed herself a relieved smile.

“It was only a bit of rain and distant lightnings, nothing to be scared of.”

“I've never been under the rain” the Time Lady retorted “It must be quite a dreadful mess, just imagining walking with my robes drenched make me shiver.”

Innocet smiled kindly to her friend. Capitol raised Time Lords were living in another world. It saddened her to imagine how it must feel to be taken away at the age of eight and completely rewired by a Time Lord education. Most of these people never went back to their House except for Death and Looming Days. 

“So, tell me more about these nursery stories you've been working on !”

The reception was held in the main Cerulean Library. Unlike most of the Capitol rooms, this one was furnished in an elegant, organic style. Dark wood bookshelves covered the six walls, accessible with balconies and spiraling flights of stairs. At the center of the Library, a long table with elaborate cravings was set up for a light cocktail, crystal glasses and ornate bottles, with scattered plates of bite-sized delicacies. 

Comfortable armchairs and coffee table formed isolated parlors in the alcoves. The whole place had the atmosphere of a gentlemen club, refined and comfortable at the same time. It reminded Innocet of the library in the House. The leather bound volumes and fragile paperbacks outnumbered the racks of glass-like data cores. The book loving woman was overwhelmed by a warm emotion.

In the private parlors, academicians were talking about their researches while drinking fancy wines and liquors. A lot of them were eminent classicists and free-thinkers, working on critical essays about Rassilon, the Intuitive Revelation and the Heroes of the Dark Times. Innocet was feeling at home among those people. Ceruleans were peculiar Time Lords : they had very little political ambition and a lyrical approach to the cosmos, tainted by blissful Capitol bound ignorance. 

“Where does your interest for Earth comes from, my dear ?” an old man Innocet recognized as a Cardinal asked. Lowering her eyes, she weighted several answers, before opting for the truth. There was no use in hiding she was related to the Doctor. She knew well enough she would still be rotting away with her Cousins if she hadn't been related to one of the most important and controversial heroes ever loomed on Gallifrey.

“I'm not sure my interest comes from anything but pure luck, my Cardinal. A Cousin of mine travels a lot and got an interest in many off-world civilizations, with a preference for one spot on Earth in particular. He gave me a part of his private collection as a gift and I took a genuine liking for some fairy tales and children stories.”

“All of this is so exotic” a haughty lady commented with a high pitched ladylike laughter.

Innocet smiled politely and took another sip of her trumpberry liquor cocktail. She enjoyed listening, but not as much doing the conversation. Even among well educated and liberal Ceruleans, she still felt slightly out of place.

By the end of the party, she excused herself and left the Library, after taking time to thank Lady Iffalunar and offering her a signed copy of her book. 

Back on the bridge that linked Sector 5 to the other spires, she looked at the pitch black sky and wondered how it looked like from the outside. Even in the farthest streets of the Capitol, she would always feel indoor. Looking at the town under her feet, she realized she hadn't dare pinching anything on the buffet, and she had promised Owis. She took the way to the service elevator and went down to the never sleeping district.

Innocet knew how much of a bad idea it was to walk in the slums at this ungodly hour wearing nothing but a flimsy party dress under a silk cape, but that adventurous feeling was taking over her best instincts again. The world was hers tonight, and despite every alarms ringing in her head, she continued her perilous stroll. She finally found a small food stall selling pastries. The ill shaped cakes and pies looked nothing close to the delicacies served at the reception, but Owis wouldn't know. She bough several of them and walked back to the elevator again. She tried to ignore the heinous stares from the passer-by. In the darkness of a small alley, she noticed a crooked figure that looked suspiciously like Cousin Rynde. She resisted to the temptation of meddling to his business and passed her way. 

As she reached the elevator, she heard a familiar voice calling her name. Shivering, she turned around and noticed the now well known face.

“Alice” she greeted coldly.

“Pretty night for going shopping” the young woman teased her with a smirk.

“I promised Owis a present, and I was curious about this place. It looks like a small galaxy from above.”

“Poetic as always, my dear bookish friend.”

Innocet rolled her eyes at the word “friend”. As if she could be friend with someone who had invaded her mind and made her doubt of her own sanity.

“Are you going up ?” she asked casually as she entered the elevator with Innocet.

“Well, of course. Not you, I suppose.”

Alice tilted her head, an unhinged smile on her face.

“Actually, I have unfinished business downstairs.”

“The more I know” Innocet mumbled.

“I was waiting for you” Alice kept going on conversational tone, as she smashed the Sector 8 button before Innocet could reach Sector 6.

“I beg you pardon ?” Innocet asked, trying to sound brave as a wave of dread was taking over her. Deep inside, she knew exactly why she had come down in the first place and what had made her feel so adventurous. 

“You heard me right. I called you here because I need your help for a job I cannot do by myself.”

“Why ?” Innocet asked, “Why asking me, of all the people in this Citadel ?”

Alice stared at her for an uncomfortable length of time, and she finally whispered. “I like your mind, so ancient and righteous. You remind me of an old friend I lost eons ago.”

“How old are you ?” Innocet asked, as to confirm a personal theory.

“Not that old, actually. Maybe even younger than you if we talk about birth year. But for people like me, birth years mean nothing.”

“Time traveler, aren't you ?” Innocet suggested. “You can't do that job yourself because you already tried and fail. You would run into yourself or cross your own time line, so you won't take a chance to cause a paradox.”

“Smart and pretty, we're really gonna make a terrific pair.”

“Who said I agreed to pair with you ?”

“I know you will. Time traveler, remember. Wouldn't you be happy to walk on his tracks ?”

Innocet nodded, instantly knowing who this conversation was all about. 

“Are you really a friend of the Doctor ?” she asked. “You rather sound like a foe. Why would you need somebody like me if you are so close to the mightiest hero of Gallifrey ?”

“Because we're not friends yet ! Try to follow, please.”

“You're crazy. Please, let me go home, now.” 

“—but there’s one great advantage in it, that one’s memory works both ways” Alice chanted softly.

The elevator stopped and Alice leaped on the landing, waiting for Innocet to follow. The young woman put her finger on the Sector 6 button, but lingered as something was silently calling her. Alice had a smile that whispered “good girl” and Innocet felt a bit sick with herself when she complied to the implicit order. 

“The TT capsule repair shops, also known as TARDIS graveyard. Did you know the word TARDIS is another invention of your illustrious Cousin ? Well, not exactly him, but he was the one who made it popular.”

“Are we here to steal a TARDIS ?” Innocet asked incredulous.

“Not steal, free ! TARDISes are alive, you know.”

Innocet bowed her head and nodded silently.

“I know. I can hear them, it's such a sad song in the back of my mind.”

Alice sat on a broken console, looking more youthful than ever. She had a melancholic expression that almost look earnest. For the first time, Innocet felt a tinge of empathy for the unhinged girl.

“You get it now, don't you ?”

“Your goal is to liberate the TARDISes, right ? I heard about your movement, corridor whispers, Time Lords calling your people bad names.”

“And you agree with them ?”

Innocet shook her head. She didn't like the way Time Lords talked about other life forms. They were acting as if Gallifrey was their and their only, ignoring the lower born inhabitants, but also the fauna, flora, and other sentient beings. Looking at the disemboweled control panels, scratches of shields and outside casings, and more gruesome of all, flickering chameleon circuits, Innocet felt sick with anger.

“No, I don't. Arrogance of the Time Lords is a thing I can't tolerate. And yet I do. I'm such a coward.”

“You're not” Alice assured her with a warm smile beneath blooming tears. “You're here with me, in the TARDIS graveyard.”

“I'm here because you submitted me to hypnosis.”

“I don't have this ability. I only played with your inner sense of justice. You are not only blood related to the Time Lord known as the Doctor, you are also a Housekeeper. You have been loomed for the exact purpose of having a natural symbiosis with Houses and TARDISes alike. They're not that different in nature.”

“A TARDIS is just a House with a tiny black hole inside” Innocet concluded with a sense of realization. “What is this unfinished job of yours ?”

Alice smiled and gave Innocet a hug. The cagey woman froze in surprise and hugged back.

“There's a TARDIS down there. She's very old and forgotten, probably going to die soon anyway. Do you know what kills TARDISes here ? The lack of artron energy. The Time Lords rejects are left to rot and starve to death in the dark. It takes millennia of slow agony, but they eventually find peace in death. ”

Innocet was trying her best to close her senses to the despair surrounding her, the same despair she had fought against for 673 years.

“If you manage to free her, we can alert the Doctor and he'll do something. He's well known in this forsaken pit of Sepulchasm. He saved one of those creatures, the oldest and sickest one. Some said he took her as a wife.”

Innocet smiled. She had met the said TARDIS, she had sat on her shell and felt her pulse within her mind. So much love. Snail had married a TARDIS like a Housekeeper marries her House, and he had never abandoned her, despite her age, her obsolescence or her inability to take a human form like the recent models that already existed back in the days. She knew exactly what he would have done if he were in her shoes right now.

“I'll do my best. Show me the way.”

Alice jumped on her feet and pointed towards one of the similar capsules.

“I cannot enter her console room. Please, listen carefully. There is a Time Blocker plugged in the console. It's a wretched red thing, you can't miss it. It cuts her away her natural ability to dematerialize, but also her sensory perceptions and ability to cry for help through the Vortex.”

“Sounds painful” Innocet winced.

“More than you can imagine.”

Innocet took a deep breath and walked to the abandoned TT capsule. When she turned around for confirmation, Alice had already disappeared. Fear had almost left her, replaced by a sense of justice. She approached the cylinder shaped machine and asked silently how to open it. She had barely formulated those thoughts than the door slid open. It looked too simple. She stepped inside the dark ship. The echoing sound of her steps suggested it was a lot bigger than it looked on the outside. 

The central column was still, stopped in the middle of its rise. Innocet could feel a distant whine of pain, like the whistling breath of a wounded creature. She touched the console and closed her eyes, trying to reach the ancient creature beneath the metal casing. Once she opened them, she realized her sight had adapted itself to the dark, and she could see the Time Blocker. She grasped it and held her breath. One, two three. 

As soon as the cruel device popped out, Innocet felt a great power taking life around her. All the lights had turned on and the column was rising and falling with the steady pace of a large creature's breath. 

She had done it, she had freed the imprisoned TARDIS.

The interior of the ship was set on default mode, white walls with round things like sugar ants honeycomb. She was overwhelmed by the energy flowing around her. Time and Space offered to her on a silver plate. It was intoxicating. She wondered if Snail had felt the same. How could have he resisted the call of infinity ?

Something shimmered in a corner and Innocet jerked away from her thoughts. A vaguely humanoid shape walked towards her, barely an idea wrapped in the image of a girl. Long limbs and silvery hair falling across an uncanny face of porcelain perfection. Innocet smiled as the pieces clicked together in her head.

“Alice, you are a TARDIS !” Innocet exclaimed in disbelief.

“Welcome home, my Pilot” the interface greeted her with a slightly robotic voice. “Do you want to set up your inner design preferences or perform an emergency dematerialization ?”

Innocet had barely opened her mouth than the characteristic worping and whizzing sound send the ship trembling. She gasped in horror and grabbed the console.

“Alice, let me go, please !”

“I am TT Type 53. Do you wish to enter “Alice” as custom setting name ?”

“No ! I freed you, now you must let me go home !”

“You will go back to the exact hour you left once the job is finished” Alice answered coldly.

“It's not what we agreed upon !”

“You agreed to free me, it implies flying me as my Pilot.”

Innocet collapsed on the floor, nausea taking over her body and mind. She had finally done it, she had stolen a TARDIS and was now running away. She heard President Romana's voice in the back of her mind “If you do so you might never come back, some say it's a very addictive lifestyle”. The faces of Owis, Jobiska, Lady Leela appeared at the front of her mind and she tried to fight back. She would not let a rogue TARDIS take her away from her family and friends, no matter the cost.

“Alright, I agree to cooperate” she said proudly as she was straightening on her feet. “However, you have to swear you'll bring me back home on time, not a single minute late. Or else...”

The interface tilted her head and pushed a few buttons on the console. The coordinates set up, she turned on a screen and started uploading pictures of busy cities, lush forests and endless oceans.

“I am sure you will enjoy your trip on Earth. I've read your hearts, Housekeeper Innocet, I know your most secret desires. But first, let me tell you the truth about the Doctor...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, Alice's chameleon circuit didn't give her the shape of an umbrella, I just find this title fitting well. But I'm pretty sure a certain someone in this story showed up with an umbrella, unless it got redacted at some point. Told you this story was time sensitive ^^.


	12. True Administrator

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my... I've realized while writing this chapter I've made a continuity error. I guess I'l have to retroactively fix my fic.  
> This body cannot be Innocet's second regeneration. She was young when the First Doctor already had white hair, so she must have regenerated not long before the events of Lungbarrow. My bad !
> 
> Oh, and I've been picking nettles this week end to make a pie ! It was really good ! Okay, nettles are just spinach, but on hard mode ^^. But it was fun to do !

Owis kept staring at the door for ten good minutes to make sure Innocet wouldn't come back to pick a forgotten book. When he was sure she was truly gone, he pulled on his own cape and slid behind the service door.

He walked down the long flight of stairs to the nearest transmat booth, giving panicked glances every few meters. It was still time to give up and return home, he told himself as he entered the booth. The memories of Innocet's absence were still fresh in his thoughts, and he had made up his mind. He would not allow Cousin Rynde to win. Things had been terrible since Innocet was gone. Who would protect him against the bullies and let him buy food at the market if she disappeared for good ? 

He typed the code he had found on the noodle box, hoping Cousin Rynde hadn't received a new one since. He knew he should have told Lady Leela, she would have sorted this out long ago, but he wanted Innocet to be proud of him. After all, he was the one who had discovered for the codes. Poeple kept treating him like he was an idiot, but this would change soon. Maybe he could become a detective, like in the stories Innocet read for him and Jobiska. He liked the idea of solving crimes and being acclaimed as a hero. He would make the House of Lungbarrow proud and no one would ever make fun of him.

He materialized in a dark street of Lower Len. He didn't recognize where, and for a few seconds, he started panicking. Then, he remembered what Innocet had taught him about reading the streets names and looking for the spires. Only an idiot could get lost in the Capitol. He pulled up his hood and started looking for his Cousin. Of course, he was gone, but Owis was glad he hadn't waited by the coordinates location. He hadn't thought about this before, and he realized he could have put himself in big trouble. Innocet would have used her psychic abilities, but Owis had his own means.

He slid his hand in his pocket and pulled a little furry rodent out. It was his most trusted fledershrew, he had trained it all week to follow Rynde's psychic signature. Those little creatures were incredibly smart, but no one else had seemed to notice. The fledershrew emitted a high pitched shrill that Owis followed carefully.

He finally found Rynde, who was waiting a few streets away, completely unaware of the small winged spy. He was waiting for someone. Owis stayed in the shadows, worrying he might not hear if he didn't get any closer. Summoning all his courage, he glided behind a garbage can and crouched there. Visibly, centuries of escaping the Drudges had taught him a few skills. 

Finally, someone came. It was a man in a dark cape. Owis didn't remember having ever seen him before, but it was true for most people in this gigantic city. It was another thing that confused him and made him want to go back to the House. 

“This time it'd better work” Rynde said grimly.

“Don't worry” the stranger replied. “If everything goes according to the plan, the girl will leave Gallifrey forever tonight.”

Owis gasped.

“I'm not sure I trust you. What do you want exactly ?”

“The same as you, getting rid of this spawn of the Pythia before she curses Gallifrey for good.”

“Cousin Innocet's always been a little wierdo. I bet it's because she was loomed as a replacement for the old hag. I don't trust Housekeepers, cunning creatures, the whole bunch of them !”

Rynde spat on the floor and the stranger nodded. 

“I agree, Housekeepers should stay in their Houses taking care of their Loom progeny instead of playing Time Lady in the Capitol. Your Cousin lets her prying little mind wander around and it's no good. She knows secrets that could lead to the plain destruction of Gallifrey.”

“She said the CIA had used the Mind Probe on her and found nothing. How is that possible ?”

“If I were you, I would nicely forget this information and focus on tonight's plan” the stranger said threateningly. “Now listen to me. You have to make sure she arrives safe and sound to Sector 7.”

“The TARDIS junkyard ?” Rynde asked with a frown.

“Exactly.”

“Why would my Cousin go there ? She's at a little party with her distinguished friends right now, talking about nonsense and drinking fancy wine.”

“Don't worry about that. Everything is set up : a friend of hers will convince her to sneak to Sector 7 and there will be no guards. Just make sure nothing happens. There's a TARDIS waiting for her. All you have to do is to wait until she enters it and you'll never see her face again.”

Rynde nodded dutifully and disappeared to the indicated location. Owis was paralyzed with fear. There was no way he would be able to find Innocet and tell her. His only option was to make sure Rynde disappeared first. Taking a deep breath, he pulled his knife out of a secret pocket in his cape and waited for the stranger to go. When the way was clear, he started stalking his Cousin silently. 

Innocet was still holding herself to the console, unable to think of anything, except silently begging the TARDIS to let her go. Alice's silhouette shimmered and solidified in the pilot's chair.

“Try to calm down, dear. I promise I'll take good care of you. You are my chosen Pilot, after all.”

“Why ? Why are you taking me away ?”

“Sometimes, a TARDIS needs to steal a Time Lord and run away. But don't worry, you are not the Time Lord I'm looking for.”

“You want the Doctor “ Innocet said wearily. “But why ? If it's just freedom you want, why not trying to find another pilot ?”

“Because the Doctor is mine.”

Innocet tilted her head.

“What do you mean ?”

Alice stretched lazily and the screens flickered, showing the black and white footage of an old man Innocet hadn't seen in centuries. 

“On that day, he should have stolen me, but he took her instead. I thought she was my friend.”

Innocet found the force to roll her eyes at this nonsense. 

“Are you telling me you're motivated by petty jealousy ?”

“You don't understand, do you ? 

The screen flickered again. The Doctor was still there, but a short girl with dark hair was following him.

“Susan” Innocet whispered.

The screen flickered again, this time, the Doctor and the girl were stopped by a technician who prevented them from entering the TARDIS they had chosen and indicated another one instead.

“I don't understand” Innocet said “Why showing me all those records ? Do you want me to guess which one is the truth ?”

Alice shook her head.

“There is no need for that. They are all true.”

Something flashed inside Innocet's mind. It was like the lightening, violent, blinding and too short to be properly seen. It only left an after-image on the lids of her conscious thoughts. 

“It's a paradox” she said in disbelief.

“Beautiful, isn't it ? It's very rare to observe such a beautiful and well conserved one.”

“How is it possible ?” 

“Paradoxes are everywhere. Very few species can see them. You Gallifreyans can sometimes sense them, like animals sense the storm. Only creatures native to the Vortex can see them distinctly. The Doctor stole her again and again, all those events are stacked upon each others within a same time span. It had created quite an impressive knot.”

Innocet was still staring at the screen in awe.

“If he stole her again and again, it only proves it is a fixed point in time” she tried to explain patiently.

“Wrong. There is one occurrence of him stealing me. Sadly, I cannot find any record of it in the Matrix.”

“Then it didn't happen.”

“Just because it's not recorded in the Matrix doesn't mean it's a lie. Quite the contrary, actually.”

“But you were stuck on Gallifrey” Innocet argued. “If it was the truth you would be somewhere in the universe with the Doctor.”

“Some timelines keep existing simultaneously, and some disappear. Have you ever heard of the Grandfather ?”

Again, this strange sensation, like thoughts that refused to appear more than a fraction of second. It terrified her beyond anything she had ever known. 

“I think you are insane !" Innocet snapped "Please, take me back to Gallifrey and I'll ask the President to send you on an exploration mission. She sends a lot of TARDISes away for her diplomatic program.”

“You don't understand” Alice almost screamed, her holographic body flickering like a ghost. “I don't care about your explorers. I want my Pilot and my life back. This timeline was mine !”

Innocet didn't even flinched. She had seen worse, Alice's tantrum was nothing compared to the House's wrath. She took a deep breath and opened her mind, sending soothing thoughts to the versatile creature. She was the pilot she reminded it gently but firmly. Alice whimpered and the whole structure of the ship trembled before stabilizing again.

“I'll help you find the Doctor and sort that out with him. And if he refuses to become your Pilot, you'll take me home anyway, agree ?”

“You have my word.”

“Thank you” Innocet said earnestly

Alice stood up and pointed towards a door Innocet hadn't noticed before.

“I need to visit a few times and places before we visit Earth. Why don't you go upstairs and have a little rest. You look exhausted. I'm sure you will enjoy the room I've prepared for you.”

Innocet hesitated a moment and finally complied. There was no use in denying her fatigue, she was linked mentally to the ship, after all. A good night of sleep wouldn't do any harm.

Owis stalked Rynde silently through a few streets, always hidden in the shadows. He was incredibly good at this, not that anyone had ever noticed. He's been caught eavesdropping enough times so his Cousins had concluded he had no finesse at all, but they couldn't have been further from the truth. No one was able to catch a tafelshrew as quickly as he could.

Rynde had now stopped in a dark alley that ended on a more lively street. He was half hidden in the shadows, barely noticed by the strangers walking to the pubs and late open shops nearby. Owis decided to take the opportunity to strike. He moved slowly, hiding himself under the porches and behind the trash cans. He was barely a few feet away from his target, ready to launch his knife when he felt a hand on his shoulder. His squeal of terror was drowned by the noises of the street. Turning around, he threw the knife at his assailant instead, but the cloaked figure caught the blade between its fingers.

“This isn't a game, young man” the stranger said condescendingly “you could get hurt and we both know your Cousin Innocet doesn't want that to happen.”

Owis studied the figure before him. It was a tall, thin man, visibly quite young looking, but that didn't mean much. His face was half hidden by his hood. His flippant attitude sent shivers through Owis's spine. 

“I won't let you send Innocet away !” he said, summoning all his bravado. But the cloaked figure only laughed and let down his hood. 

“Really ? Isn't she lucky to have such a brave bodyguard ?” 

The man had the strangest face Owis had ever seen, but he couldn't have explained why. He looked normal, a perfectly average face he knew he would have forgotten the next morning, if he wasn't killed in this alley of course. It was the face of a master spy. 

“Go back to your Tower” the man ordered. “I really don't wish to hurt you, but I won't hesitate if you cause any trouble.”

“What do you want with Cousin Innocet ?” Owis questioned him.

The man tilted his head.

“Can you keep a secret ?”

“Yeah, I'm a tomb !” Owis exclaimed proudly.

“Very well. I have no intention to hurt your Cousin. All I want is to help her settle an old Family matter.”

“Liar ! You're the one who put the poisoned magenta in my bag !”

“It was me, indeed.”

“I could have died !”

“But you didn't. It was a calculated risk, like everything we orchestrate in the shadows.”

“I don't trust you.” Owis said sulkily.

The figure smirked while playing with the knife. At the end of the street, Rynde had disappeared again. 

“You are a smart boy, then. Way smarter than they give you credit for.”

Owis smiled, flattered by the unexpected compliment. He gave a glance in the direction of the busy street, following his fledershrew's squeals. 

“Crap !” he swore when he noticed Rynde was gone.

He turned to the stranger, but he was already at the other end of the street. His cloaked figure seemed to shimmer for a moment, like an holographic projection. Owis rubbed his eyes. It must be the emotions, or maybe he was feeling peckish. 

When he was out of sight, the CIA agent flickered and disappeared.


	13. Locked Girl, the Girl's Secret Room

The Doctor closed her eyes and tried to get her thoughts together. She was missing something and she knew it. Think, Doctor, think ! Roses of Time, Gallifreyan delicacies... Maribel Hartman was not a renegade. She had probably left Gallifrey a few years, maybe centuries ago from her own perspective. She missed Gallifrey, or at least its mundane lifestyle. She could be anyone, from the Master themselves to a complete stranger. Yet, the Doctor knew she had all the pieces just in front of her eyes.

Something was wrong. Very wrong, and yet, she couldn't see what was not adding up.

Meanwhile, Maribel was walking in circles around the central table. She reminded the Doctor of a cat and it added up to her discomfort. The cat and the tafelshrew. Why “tafelshrew” and not “mouse” ? The Doctor hadn't seen a tafelshrew in centuries. Why was this woman so familiar and yet completely undecipherable ?

Tiny details made the Doctor's close to losing her mind. Why calling her “Snail” ? What did it mean ? What did it even feel so important ? The memory was sliding on her mind like water on a duck's feathers. 

“Professor, I need your help” she finally asked. Maribel smirked victoriously.

“Isn't it finally time !” she said as she perched on a stool. 

“What did I steal from you ?”

The scientist swirled on her rotating stool, kicking her legs in an unnerving childlike manner. This attitude didn't add up. The Doctor had no idea what it was supposed to add up with, she only knew it didn't. Something had happened to this person, hindering her sanity to the point madness was leaking from her brain all over the room. 

“We're the only ones left !” the Doctor finally snapped. “Gallifrey is gone and I've found no other survivor yet.”

The woman stopped spinning and looked at the Doctor with dead eyes that sent shivers down the Time Lady's spine. Those wide, golden eyes were glowing with something unnatural. It was like they had stared for too long into the void and the void was now staring through them.

“I'd rather have this conversation on my own ground”

“Very well” the Doctor said carefully.

The woman nodded and something started vibrating in the air. The Doctor stared at the central piece of the table as the white linen cloth was sliding from it.

It wasn't a telescope piece, it was a glass like column.

Suddenly, things started clicking together.

“This office is your TARDIS !” the Doctor exclaimed

“My TARDIS ? You think I'm a Time Lord ?” Maribel said as she fumbled with the controls. Now the perception filter had faded, the Doctor could see every detail of the console, a mix of vintage Gallifreyan technology and Earth spare pieces and gizmos. “Please, don't insult me !”

The Doctor frowned and and stared thoroughly at the woman. Of course ! Maribel Hartman didn't have a double heartbeat, in fact, she didn't have a heartbeat at all. Though, she was breathing and each movement of her chest came with a wvorping sound. 

Also, she wasn't a woman at all, she was simply wrapped in the image of a woman.

“You are a TARDIS ! Brilliant, I haven't seen a TARDIS like you in centuries ! I mean, a TARDIS who can take a humanoid appearance. My old girl did it, once, but sadly she couldn't keep the body.” The Doctor said as she took a few steps toward Maribel and started circling her in genuine awe. “So you left Gallifrey ? Great idea, Gallifrey isn't the best place for an independent TARDIS. I suppose you are independent.”

“I do have a Pilot, if it's what you mean” Maribel said.

“Really ? Where are they now ?” the Doctor asked, her mood suddenly darkening in apprehension. 

“Don't worry, I take good care of my Time Lord. Unlike some, I always return what I borrow.”

Owis stood paralyzed for a while. He had no idea what he was supposed to do. Cousin Rynde had disappeared, and he didn't know how to get to sector 7 before him. Panic made his brain run in circles and he could feel his hearts racing in his chest. His thoughts kept coming back to the savage woman. Lady Leela always knew what to do. If only he had a mean to contact her. Unable to settle on another plan, Owis walked straight to the nearest elevator. Once in the spires, he'd find a guard and would ask for Leela.

Oblivious of the events unfolding underground, Leela was was enjoying a calm evening with Andred and K9. She had finally convinced her husband to learn about the fauna and flora of his own home planet and they were planning their next excursion.

“Leela, you'll still have to take care of the baby !” he reminded her kindly.

“Only for a few months, after we can leave them to a nanny” she said as she turned a page of her hand bound notebook.

“How can you be so flippant about that !” Andred scolded her “This is our child.”

“Children grow rapidly. But how do I even find a nanny on Gallifrey ? I guess I'll ask Romana.”

Andred looked horrified.

“The President has no time for taking care of a child !”

“I meant I'll ask her to find a nanny, silly !” Leela corrected him with a slight eye roll.

Suddenly, Andred's wrist communicator rang and the face of a guard appeared on the dial. 

“Is anything wrong, Lieutenant Timur ?”

Leela had tensed as she expected trouble. Maybe a new invasion ? Oh, she could always wish.

“Everything is in order Castellan !”

“That's the matter, then ?” Andred asked, growing a bit impatient.

“A young man requested an audience with your wife, Lady Leela.”

Leela realised her hand was already on her blade. She released it and came closer to the wrist communicator.

“What is it about, warrior ?”

“He says he knows you, He's a Cousin from the House of Lungbarrow, and he'll only talk to you in private.”

Leela felt a rush of adrenaline fill her veins. Part of her also felt guilty for enjoying the perspective of a bit of action when her friend might be in danger.

“Please, escort him to the Castellan's apartments.”

“But Leela, the protocols...” Andred butted in

Leela rolled her eyes.

“What protocols ? A friend of the President might be in danger. I hope nothing happened to her, or else I wouldn't forgive myself.”

Leela jumped when she heard the door opening and dashed to invite the visitor in. She immediately recognized the frightened boyish man escorted by two guards.

“That will be all” she said

“But Madam...” one of them insisted

“I know this man, don't worry. Please, I want to talk to him alone.”

“Please, do as she said” Andred ordered.

The guards saluted and left the room. Leela was already guiding the pudgy young man inside.

“Andred, please, fetch me a cup of tea and scones for our guest” she asked with a tone that would accept no objection. Andred could be quite dense, but this time he got the cue and Leela was grateful. She turned to Owis and let him talk.

“It's not my fault. I wanted to stop them, but the man in black caught me and I lost Rynde in the crowd. Innocet says to be careful with guards and Time Lords, so I asked to see you” he blurted out sheepishly. 

“It's alright, they're all gone and I am no Time Lord. Please, tell me what happened.”

Owis stared at her for a moment, mouth agape. Leela summoned all the gods of patience. She had lost enough time with this one when Innocet was in CIA custody, this time she'd make sure he told her everything he knew.

“I followed Rynde in town and he met scary man in a black cape. They talked about making Innocet disappear from Gallifrey” 

Leela sighed. Finally this was getting somewhere.

“That's okay” Leela said “You did your best. Do you have any idea of what they planned to do with Innocet ?”

The Doctor stared at the human looking entity with a weary frown.

“What do you mean by borrow ?” 

Maribel gritted her teeth.

“Do you know what they do to ownerless TARDISes on Gallifrey ? They shackle us, restrained and isolated from the Matrix, and we die alone in darkness, starving without energy. I had no choice but borrow a Pilot to set myself free.”

The Doctor nodded in respectful silence, before finally asking.

“How did you find a Pilot ?”

“I reached her mind and she responded to my distress call” Maribel explained. “She came on her own volition, otherwise she wouldn't be able to fly me. Unfortunately, her will is getting weaker and weaker.”

The Doctor took a breath, trying to sort the conflicting emotions fighting inside her mind. 

“So you've abducted a Time Lady and ran away. I can't really blame you, it was a matter of life and death, and I stole my share of TARDISes. You say she's losing her will. Why ? Did you promise something you cannot give her ?”

Maribel nodded with a sad smile.

“I promised to take her back to her Family as soon as I have what I'm looking for. But we both know if I do that, she will die very soon in one of the wars constantly raging on Gallifrey. Your people is a cruel one, Doctor, and my Pilot doesn't deserve that fate.”

Family. The Doctor had lived on her own for so long she had forgotten how it felt to have a family waiting for her. She wondered what kind of family the Pilot had. Time Lords weren't exactly a family oriented people. There had been many changes on Gallifrey, bringing many types of families. Sometimes people got married and had children, sometimes they were born from the Loom and raised in a living House with only distant Cousins. The Doctor knew she had had a family at some point, like anyone, but she could barely remember her own children, if she even had children of her own. This woman, whoever she was, was still remembering her loved ones, and the fire that had burned in her, alimenting her link to the TARDIS, was slowly dying. 

“Do you think I could see her ?” the Doctor asked.

“Of course. She'll be delighted to see you. I wonder if she will recognize you, you had quite a different face the last time.”

The Doctor felt the floor open under her feet as she heard this new revelation.

“You mean I know her ?” she asked with a mix of hope and trepidation.

“I promised to bring her back to her family, I didn't say which part of it.”

Maribel made a gesture towards a door that the Doctor had mistaken for a cupboard, as it was next a large window and could not have lead to anything if this had been a normal building.

“She's waiting in her room upstairs.”

The Doctor took the flight of stairs and pushed the door on the landing. The room behind it took her breath away. She was standing in what looked like a forest of whitewood trees, their branches joining to form a ceiling. The whole place felt alive. Of course it was alive, she was in a TARDIS, but it was different than a regular TARDIS room. Each piece of furniture seemed to have a life of its own. A gigantic table with assorted chairs faced the entry. For a few second, the Doctor was confused. Why would a Time Lord need furniture of this height ? Then, she was struck by the evidence.

She was inside a Gallifreyan House, or rather the replica of a Gallifreyan House. The furniture was designed to make the fully adult future Time Lords small, as they experienced their brainbuffing. That was true of most old Houses, before the progress in artificial procreation allowed the birth of actual babies, then the return of natural birth. This was an archaic place, meaning the Pilot very likely came form an archaic Loom. The Doctor hoped she wasn't still brainbuffing when the TARDIS had taken her. Despite their adult bodies, recently loomed Gallifreyans remained children and needed their elders care.

She walked silently in the forest of table legs and stools until she found what she was looking for. Curled upon a gigantic plush armchair, the Pilot looked like a tiny doll abandoned under a pile of blankets. Except they weren't blankets but lace. Delicate patterns of Circular Gallifreyan spreading in a convoluted story book of fine thread, folded on yards and yards. The woman had fallen asleep on her needle work. 

“Hello ?” the Doctor called awkwardly.

The woman slowly opened her eyes and the Doctor couldn't shake of the mental image of an old school fairy tale princess waking up after a century long nap. She removed the lace and straightened on her chair. When the Doctor saw her face, she was submerged by an intense feeling of guilt she couldn't explain yet.

The two stared in silence, both too stunned to talk or reach each other's mind. The Pilot looked young, but that didn't mean anything as she could be on her late regenerations. Her full, almost childlike face was framed by short brown hair. She jumped from the armchair and landed gracefully before the Doctor. Extending her hand, she touched the other woman's cheek as to check she wasn't hallucinating.

“Snail, is that really you ?” she murmured softly, as if she might scare the Doctor away.

“Contact ?” 

“Contact”

As their minds connected, the Doctor jolted away by reflex. The woman's mind had barely brushed her own, and yet the Doctor felt something inside her being unlocked. Memories came flooding her conscious thoughts. Her childhood, the House of Lungbarrow...

“Innocet ?” she asked in disbelief.

“Snail, my troublesome Cousin” she whispered, emotion choking her words “I can't believe we've finally found you.”

The Doctor extended her arms and Innocet took a few steps back before throwing herself in the embrace, allowing herself a few sobs as the Doctor shared some thoughts silently. In a few seconds, they had caught up on six faces and so many adventures, none of them involving Gallifrey.

“What happened to you ?” Innocet asked “How can you have so many bodies ?”

“The High Council granted me an extra cycle. I guess they can't do without me” the Doctor explained with a smug smile that made Innocet snort.

“And you look so... different. Any reason ?”

“Hmm, not really. You know me, regeneration is a lottery and I never really get to pick. Still not ginger. Neither are you. You haven't regenerated since Lungbarrow ?”

Innocet nodded.

“For me it wasn't long ago, I'm not sure, probably less than an Earth century.”

“I see. You still have your hair short, and is that a Gallifreyan party dress ?” the Doctor asked.

“I was coming back from a party when Alice took me away” Innocet replied.

“Alice ? Oh, is that how you call your TARDIS.”

“All those years I kept this party dress and my hair perfectly trimmed so they won't notice I was gone when I finally come back home.”

The Doctor shrugged in discomfort at the mention of Gallifrey. Innocet had set her mind on returning home, and the Doctor knew she wouldn't let anything distract her from her goal. She was the Housekeeper of Lungbarrow and nothing was more important to her than her Cousins and her House.

“So you were at a party. What did I miss since I left you with your books ?”

Innocet smiled fondly at the memory.

“Not so much, and yet a lot. It's only been a few months, you know. Lady Leela is still expecting her child and the seed hasn't been planted yet. We live in a tower, fancy part of the Capitol. I can't say I really enjoy the city, but I met nice people.”

“So I didn't miss your wedding. I'm relieved, for a moment I thought I had disappointed you again” the Doctor said.

Innocet smiled brightly.

“You'd rather come to your own House's wedding, you are still the Kithriarch of this Family, remember.”

“You'd be a better Kithriarch than me” the Doctor muttered apologetically.

“Nonsense, I am already the Housekeeper. Besides, even in your absence you remain a valuable asset for the prestige of the House..”

The Doctor laughed softly.

“Look at you, talking like a real Capitol Time Lady.”

“What did I do to deserve such an insult ?” Innocet exclaimed in false offense and started laughing too. 

“It's nice to see you again.”

“Don't tell me you missed us, please. I can see in your eyes you barely remembered I existed before I revealed myself” she said bitterly.

The Doctor lowered her head in shame.

“It's true, so much happened since I left. I cannot rely on my memories anymore.”

“Then come back home. You don't have to stay forever.”

“You know I can't do that” the Doctor replied softly.

“Why not ? Things have changed, you know. Satthralope isn't there anymore and I make sure everyone is treated fairly. You have friends on Gallifrey, please, never forget that.”

“I know, Innocet. I know there are people who love me and who would be happy to see me, but I cannot go back. It's complicated, and I am not allowed to tell you why. Not yet. How is Romana ? And Leela ? I still think about them, sometimes.”

Innocet shook her head, sadness dripping through her mind like ripples on a calm ocean.

“They're fine” she said simply. 

The Doctor could read Innocet's thoughts as they crossed the threshold of her own mind. There was relief and worry, sadness and joy. All her being was focused on Gallifrey and she refused the possibility of coming back too late. She wouldn't miss a single moment with her Family, it was not something she could afford. Not when the only other potential leader was Cousin Rynde. The House of Lungbarrow was too vulnerable to be left unattended, the Doctor realized with a pang of sadness. The remaining Cousins were not in a state to take care of themselves. Innocet was their only hope left and she couldn't allow herself to be stranded off world, no matter how exciting the universe was.

“Please, Snail, you have to take me home, no matter the cost” she asked humbly.

The Doctor closed her eyes and summoned all the courage of her fourteen lives.

“I am so sorry. You have no idea how terribly sorry I am for you.”

“Why ?” Innocet asked with wide eyes.

“I cannot take you back to Gallifrey. I don't even think it is possible for any time machine to go back when you left. Not after what happened.”

“Please, tell me what happened” Innocet said, bravely looked at her Cousin in the eyes, as if she was challenging her to even try lying to her.


	14. Spiritual Domination ~ Who done it!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've hesitated a lot before writing this chapter. Isn't it a bit too self indulgent ? But in the end I said darn it, it's my fanfic I do whatever I want.  
> In other words, forgive me for bringing my weeb rubbish in this attempt of a Doctor Who story. Gomenasai :3.

The Doctor stared in silence for a few uncomfortable minutes before Innocet took pity of her.

“It's alright, you can tell me later.”

She looked happy to see her Cousin, and it only added to the Doctor's gloom. She hadn't chosen this title to become a bringer of baleful news. Each destruction of Gallifrey had bought a deep sense of rootlessness to her, no matter how much she had hated her home planet. She had no idea how to bring the subject to someone home bound and deeply attached to Gallifrey's culture and people. No, Innocet was more than attached to Gallifrey, she had an actual family back there, people she loved and who counted on her. Unlike the Doctor, she hadn't abandoned then. Yet she was there and she had survived. The Doctor felt a bitter mix of relief and guilt, unable to decide if it was a good thing or not. Maybe dying with your loved ones was a kinder fate than surviving them for thousands of years.

“So this is where you've lived all those years ? It looks very homely” The Doctor said in a blunt attempt to change the topic of the conversation.

“I suppose Alice knows me well. You have a TARDIS too, you know how deep is the bond between a ship and her Pilot.”

“I suppose you're right” the Doctor replied, a smile showing on her tensed face. 

She started walking around the room, examining each oversize furniture and architectural quirk. Most of her rare memories of Gallifrey were linked to the Capitol and the deserts around it. She only recalled a barren place where all life was concentrate in one sterile city. Being here, in this mock up traditional Gallifreyan House, she had to remember there was more to her home planet. It had old traditions rooted deeper than the Time Lords themselves, ancestral places where technology and nature merged in a perfect symbiosis. It also had a rich wildlife, plants and animals that had probably gone extinct with the Great Time War. Seeing all of this forgotten history preserved inside an actual time capsule made something bubble inside her. Rage, impotence, and a deep, deep sorrow. 

“You said something happened on Gallifrey that prevents me from returning, right ?”

“You certainly are stubborn, Innocet” the Doctor sighed.

“Some would say it's a family trait” she retorted with a witty smile. Everytime Innocet flashed a smiled or made a lighthearted comment, the Doctor felt the dagger twisting in her wound. 

“I think I might have an idea about that” the Gallifreyan kept on, completely oblivious of the Doctor's deep buried feelings. “Alice told me about paradoxes. TARDISes have a sixth sense for that sort of things.”

“If TARDISes have five senses to begin with” the Doctor cut, earning an irritated look from Innocet.

“You know what I mean. Before I left Gallifrey, something happened to me. The Matrix took control of my body. I don't remember anything, but sometimes I have this feeling time have been tempered with. The whole history of Gallifrey is built on paradoxes and rewritten timelines, after all.”

“You have no idea” the Doctor muttered bitterly.

Innocet stopped by a vanity and started rummaging in the contents of a drawer. The Doctor noticed all sorts of knickknacks that definitively didn't come from Gallifrey nor from Earth. There was alien tech from all across the universe, 

“Of course I don't have a sub-artron centrifuge” Innocet grunted between her teeth.

“A sub-artron centrifuge ?” the Doctor commented wearily “it's a class 3 item in the catalog of forbidden time travel technology. I'm not even sure they can still be found.”

“I've already seen one, in a black market hardware shop. Really good service, the owner is part Cyberman, I think he converted himself using spare parts from battlefield..”

The Doctor frowned and took a few steps forward.

“Innocet ? Since when have you been such an enthusiast for experimental methods in time travel ?” she asked tentatively.

“Since I left Gallifrey and made myself at home on this backward planet” 

“Innocet ?” the Doctor called again. She had never seen her Cousin like this, something felt wrong about everything, her voice, her choice of words, even her body language. She closed the drawer and faced the Doctor. The faint gold in her otherwise blank eyes revealed everything she needed to know.

“Maribel. Or should I call you Alice ?” The Doctor said as she started fidgeting with her sonic screwdriver.

“You didn't think I would leave my Pilot alone with you, Doctor ?” not-Innocet said with her usual pleasant voice.

“What do you want ?”

“You.” 

“But why ?”

“Because you should have taken me instead of that old Type 40. I am better in every regards.”

The Doctor sighed and rolled her eyes. 

“You have managed to leave Gallifrey, you have survived the Time War and everything that came after. What could I give you more ?”

The whole structure of the ship started trembling and the Doctor grabbed the nearest branch. Books fell from the shelves and the ball of golden thread Innocet was using for her lace unravelled and crossed the room, getting caught in the legs of the panicking chairs. The Doctor ducked to avoid a cup of tea, the now cold liquid smearing her pale blue jacket.

“It's okay” Innocet almost whispered. “Everything is alright.”

The ship suddenly stabilized and the Doctor collapsed on the floor. Innocet helped her on her feet and started gathering the scattered items around the room.

“I am sorry” she said calmly, as if they had not just been crushed by an angry TARDIS. “Alice and I share a very close telepathic bond.”

“She took control of your body” the Doctor corrected her with a frown.

“I know, I need to keep her at bay.”

“We need to get out of here.”

“Alice is always in my head. She and I, we share a mind.”

The Doctor nodded carefully, as she was not sure who was talking. The woman in front of her was sounding neither like Innocet nor the TARDIS, but an hybrid of the two. She took a few steps in her direction and grabbed her hand. With their skin touching, she managed to reach her mind directly. Contact, she whispered in her mind. Contact, Innocet answered.

I've created a closed link. Think of it as a DM chatroom to isolate us from the rest of the server. 

I'm not sure what you are talking about. Earth references ?

Sorry. I've created a partition to give ourselves some privacy. Are you allowed out ?

Of course, Innocet scoffed. This is my TARDIS, not a prison.

Perfect. Any idea of a place we could visit that wouldn't make her suspicious ?

We've talked about crossing a paradoxical timeline. I could take you to this shop in Akihabara. The one owned by a lone Cyberman. 

Not very fond of Cybermen, these days. Especially lone ones.

He's a good friend of us, Snail. He's got the best items from all over the universe. We'll need this sub-artron centrifuge at some point if I want to go home. 

Not sure about this either, but we'll discuss later. Any idea to drive your TARDIS away ? 

She cannot enter yours. 

Innocet, you're so smart.

Again, Family trait. 

The Doctor broke the telepathic feed and gave a circular glance to the room, as she didn't have any interface to address to.

“I might have something useful for you in my ship. Do you have a book about parallel universes ? Forget what I said, parallel universes are rubbish. Timeline reboot systems are better. They reboot your timeline to the point you've failed and allow you to start again. I don't like it, it's like cheating. And only losers cheat. But if you need one, maybe I can find a book about that in my library.”

“Fine” Alice's voice said, talking through Innocet's mouth again. “I propose you a deal. I allow Innocet back to where she belongs and you become my Pilot. You can even give her your old Type 40, this way everyone's happy.”

“You know I cannot agree with this. However, I can do that !”

The Doctor aimed her screwdriver at the ceiling and rushed through the door, running down the stairs before the TARDIS recovered from the blast. The steps undulated under her feet as an attempt to stop her, but she reached the console room and aimed at the central column. A strong telepathic feedback loop almost made the Time Lady black out, but she steadied herself. What followed was a deafening silence.

“What have you done !” Innocet yelled from the stairs as she rushed after her Cousin.

“I sent a sonic blast that disabled her telepathic circuit, then I blocked the commends.”

“How dare you !” Innocet growled in hot rage. “She's my friend, you had no right to attack her.”

“I'm sorry, but she isn't your friend. She's your captor and I've got to free you of her grip” the Doctor said softly.

“You don't get it, Snail. You never understood anything about loyalty, not once in your stupid and long existence !”

The Doctor stared dumbfounded, waiting for Innocet to slap her. Instead, the other woman pushed a few levers and the TARDIS materialized.

“I'm sorry, Alice” she said kindly “I'll be back soon, I promise.”

The door opened and Innocet walked outside without checking for the Doctor. The Time Lady followed and walked to a sunlit alley. Popular culture merchandising and novelty cafes were touching each other and large screens were broadcasting advertisement, all of them featuring either sickeningly cute mascots or young cartoon girls in skimpy outfits. The street was crowded with many poeple either wearing colorful outfits or waving their cameras around, most often doing both. 

“Welcome to Akihabara, end of 21st Century on the Gregorian calendar.”

“I guess we're out to meet that lone Cyberman who owns a black market tech store ?”

Innocet spun and the Doctor noticed a shy smile on her face. Behind them, the TARDIS had taken the shape of a vending machine.

“How long before Alice recovers ?”

“I'd say 3 to 4 hours. I'm sorry, I've used maximum power. She'll be alright, I promise.”

Innocet nodded.

“If we have some time ahead, I'd like to show you around.”

“Akihabara ? It has become a tourist trap those last decades.”

Innocet smiled.

“What's wrong with being tourists, then ? Alice and I used to come here a lot when we lived in Kyoto. Sometimes we even took the train.”

The Doctor blinked with confusion.

“You used to live in Kyoto ?”

“Alice didn't tell you ? She gave lectures on astronomy at the University of Kyoto for a few decades. Nobody seemed to notice she wasn't aging.”

“So it is true, then ? She really is the scientist known as Maribel Hartman ? And you, what have you been up too ?”

The Doctor followed as Innocet led the way, and soon they found themselves facing another of those never ending maid cafes. In front of this one, a robotic waitress in a frilly outfit was welcoming the clients with a polite bow.

“Welcome to the Cyber Paradise, Mistress Innocet. We haven't seen you for a while.”

Innocet bowed back to the robot and gestured toward the Doctor.

“It's good to see you, Sayori. I am with a friend and we'd like to book a table for two.”

“Hello, I'm the Doctor. You are a very advanced android for such a simple task. You should aim higher !” 

“I am currently following a double scholarship in advanced mathematics and theoretic astrophysics, Mistress.”

“My bad” the Doctor muttered, and Innocet rolled her eyes.

Inside the cafe, everything looked fake and strangely mesmerizing, like entering the pages of a children comic book. The Doctor walked carefully between the pink colored tables, as the neon lights flattened all the volumes and the checkered pastel floor could have easily concealed a step. The ceiling was adorned with a circular painting of clouds and little angels in the predominant minimalist style. A large chandelier was dripping with drop shaped crystals. The only organic things in this kindergarten decadence were the clients, at least part of them. The staff busying themselves seemed entirely composed of androids with feminine features, some indistinguishable from human beings, some presenting slightly alien appearances. Innocet walked her way to a small table for two in an alcove half hidden behind lace curtains and sat on one of the two flower shaped chairs. The Doctor took the other one and started flickering through the menu.

“They have the best pancakes in Japan” Innocet said. “I shall ask the recipe to the chef before I return to Gallifrey.”

The Doctor didn't make any comment and she hid her face behind the tea menu. Soon, a humanoid robot with vaguely catlike features came to take their orders. With no more menu to hid herself, the Doctor feigned an intense interest in the cheesy 80s pop song playing in the background. 

“You know, I didn't take you here for the pancakes only, Snail. We need to talk. We should have done it a long time ago.”

“I know” the Doctor said sheepishly. “Tell me about your TARDIS, how did you end up stealing it ?”

“It's a rather long story. She was kept underground, in that TARDIS junkyard. Do you know what they do with defunct time machines ? They shackle them, blindfolded and alone in the dark, until they go mad and eventually die of loneliness and hunger.”

“That's why you reacted like that when I turned down your telepathic circuit” the Doctor realized with a pang of guilt. Innocet nodded and took a bite of a strawberry coated stick biscuit she had picked from the central piece of the table.

“It was pretty cruel of you. Alice suffers from severe post traumatic syndrome.”

“I'm terribly sorry to hear that” the Doctor apologized “but the way she treats you is unacceptable. She shouldn't be allowed to use your body as a vessel.”

“Why not, I'm using her internal dimensions as a home and a transportation. Living in symbiosis requires the two parts to be equal.”

“It's not how piloting a TARDIS works” the Doctor argued.

“It's how being a Housekeeper works” Innocet retorted. 

The waitress came back with the orders. The Doctor thanked her and took a large bite of her teddy bear shaped pancake.

“Hmm, really delicious, it feels like biting in a sponge full of maple syrup.”

Innocet laughed softly. On her plate, three pastel colored rice cakes with cute chocolate faces painted on them.

“Do you remember the rice cake you gave me at the library ?”

“You mean the rice cake Chris gave you” the Doctor admitted shamefully. “There was also a banana if I remember well.”

“Yes, a banana too. The first sweet things I'd eaten in 673 years.”

“I'm still sorry about that too.”

“It belongs to the past. I have hope and also a lot of plans for the future” Innocet beamed “Rice cakes and bananas always make me feel nostalgic. I hope I'll never stop wondering at every little things.”

“It's a nice thing to hope for.” the Doctor said. “What are those plans you're talking about ?”

“Well, for a start, I still have to supervise the growth of the new House and make sure the new seed and the old roots are correctly woven together. There cannot be any future if the past isn't secured. And one day, when the House is ready, we'll be able to loom the Replacements for our deceased Cousins.”

“Those sound like nice plans” the Doctor approved with a sad smile. Innocet nodded.

“I know it won't be easy. A great tragedy awaits Gallifrey, I can sense it coming from the Past and the Future. It permeates the present like dampness between two downpours, always looming above us.”

“Yet you still have hope.”

Innocet took a sip of her pink colored tea and stared at the Doctor with her deepest gaze. There was too much wisdom in those eyes for matching such a young looking face.

“Did I ever lost hope, Cousin ?”

“No, never” the Doctor admitted “Even in the deepest dark you kept fighting for your sanity and for the sake of the others. But I'm afraid this time, things are different. People are going to die. A lot of people, harmless, innocent people.”

“Then I'll fight for them. I'll burn all my regenerations left if I have to, but I'll make sure the House of Lungbarrow and all its denizens survive.”

“If there is one person I trust to save so many people, is it you, Innocet.”

“Well, I guess we have no time to lose. I hope Mr Bolt isn't out of stock. The elements to build a sub-artron centrifuge are pretty common, aren't they ?”


	15. Starry Sky of Small Desires

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've came to the point I have to use a Touhou playlist to find titles =^^=.  
> Also, I've realised almost every chapter of this fic ends up with a slap in the face. Do I listen too much Gallifrey so I became unable to write a proper story that doesn't have a twist every five minutes ?

Innocet paid for the Doctor's tea and pancakes.  
“I insist. I won't need Earth money for very long anyway” she said with a wistful smile that made the Doctor look awkwardly at her feet. 

As they walked along the sunlit sidewalk, the Doctor took a good look at her Cousin's garment. The dress was made of a flimsy, almost see through material, and yet it was in mint condition. It could only mean two things : either she had dressed for the occasion and had been wearing Earth clothes on a daily basis, or she hadn't been out very often during the last century. She suspected both statements were true.  
The Doctor knew from experience it was easier to escape a black hole than the grip of a possessive TARDIS. No matter how much Innocet's TARDIS dismissed its Pilot, it had a complete hold on her.  
The sentient machine had set her course on her and the Doctor knew she wouldn't hesitate to use Innocet as a leverage if she deemed it necessary, or crush her if she got in her way. 

First thing first, taking Innocet to safety, then telling her the truth about Gallifrey. 

“I hope the sub-artron centrifuge is precise enough to take me back in the hour I left” Innocet said with a frown. “I don't want anyone to worry about my disappearance.”

The Doctor tensed and smiled awkwardly.

“Innocet, can I ask you something ?” she carefully prompted her Cousin. “This is purely hypothetical, but what if you didn't return to Gallifrey in time ? What would happen to your Cousins ?”

“Our Cousins” she corrected sternly “In the immediate future, I suppose the Capitol staff would continue to take care of them. I doubt they would even notice I'm gone. I dare to hope Cousin Owis would miss me a little. Do you remember any of them, Snail ?”

“I'm afraid not” the Doctor admitted.

Innocet nodded and she grabbed her by the sleeve, dragging her into the nearest building. Inside, the loud music and neon lights disoriented the Doctor for a few seconds before she realized this place was a game complex. Young people were lining in front of virtual reality devices and old school arcade games, while other tempted fate at the UFO catchers. But what seemed to interest Innocet was a large machine the Doctor recognized as a photo-booth.

“But we do remember you” she said almost bitterly. “You have friends on Gallifrey.”

“I had” the Doctor corrected his Cousin.

“You still have, no matter what happened in your past.” 

“And you want to show them a picture of me when you're back ?” the Doctor asked tentatively.

“I don't know when I'll see you again, or even if I will” Innocet admitted. “I don't want to forget, and I don't want you to forget me again.”

The Doctor nodded and she followed her Cousin inside the booth. Innocet inserted a few coins in the slot and she worked her way through the selection menu. There were a lot of options available to adjust the shape of the face and the tone of the skin. It was not unlike one of those cursed mirrors designed to only show what the heart desires until the eyes stop seeing what's real. Bur Innocet managed to disable all of the tricks and the Doctor was relieved to see her bare face, no artifice or fake make-up on it. 

“Cheese !” she said rather gleefully, only earning a confused look from Innocet. “It's an Earth saying. When you take a picture you say “cheese”. It's supposed to make you smile.”

The other woman nodded, but she kept her usual straight face when the flash captured them. 

“Oi, stickers !” the Doctor exclaimed. “I want cat ears and whiskers.”

“Snail, it's for the Family archives” Innocet scolded her as she pressed the print button.

“Aww, just a funny one !”

“Alright” Innocet said with a smile. Using her finger as a tool, she selected a glittery purple colour and traced antennas and a spiraled shell on the Doctor's picture. 

“Really ?” she asked with a smile. Choosing her own colour, a bright red, the Doctor drew funny glasses on Innocet's face and scribbled the word “bookworm” on her forehead. Before Innocet could reach the eraser tool, the Doctor smashed the print button and rushed outside of the booth to get the silly picture.

“We look silly” Innocet said with a smile.

“I like being silly. What's the point of being a genius if you can't be silly on your days off ?”

Innocet smiled and pocketed the serious picture, not without any regrets. 

“I think it's time we go to Mr Bolt's shop.”

The Doctor frowned and ran to the nearest UFO catcher. It was full of strange stuffed animals that vaguely looked like cats with unearthly features. 

“I bet you're very good at these” she said casually.

“Good at what ?” Innocet asked.

“UFO catchers. It is the perfect occasion to use your telekinesis abilities.”

Innocet put her fists on her hips.

“Are you suggesting I use my Pythian heritage to cheat at a human game.”

“It's not cheating if you don't get caught. Unless you lost this ability when you regenerated.”

Innocet rolled her eyes, but she pulled a few coins from her purse anyway.

“Which cat ?” she asked in her best challenger tone.

The Doctor pointed the uncanniest looking one and Innocet nodded dutifully. She started moving the crane with the buttons, and once it was vaguely in position right above her target, she concentrated all her mental energy on the toy. The stuffed cat subtly vibrated and rose slowly in an unsteady levitation until it nested itself inside the crane's grip. Innocet smiled smugly when she pulled the prize out of the trapdoor.

“Not bad for a first time” the Doctor said as her Cousin was handing her the alien cat.

“It was fun” Innocet admitted reluctantly.

“Cheating at the UFO catcher ?”

“Getting into mischief with you, Snail.” 

The Doctor nodded and started picking at the label on her stuffed toy.

“You know, I am currently traveling alone.”

Innocet sighed and turned around awkwardly.

“Please, don't try to convince me. We both know I have to go back home and nothing will ever change my mind.”

“Innocet, it's not too late” the Doctor pleaded “let me save you.”

“I cannot know peace away from my Family” she replied sternly. “Doctor, if you really want to save me you have to help me back home. If what you want is to delay my departure, then maybe we aren't on the same side anymore.”

Coppery gold and tender green met and the Doctor flinched, unable to stand her Cousin's stare any longer. The air around them was light and carried the smells of spring. Flowers and food stand crepes. The two women sat on a bench under a glass and metal bus stop and avoided each other's eyes. It was a beautiful day, soft, ordinary. Not a day to die, or to return on Gallifrey.

“I'm trying to save you” the Doctor finally said, repeating the same words over and over. “Gallifrey is no more. There is nothing on this planet but a barren battlefield. Even the Capitol has fallen.” 

“—but there’s one great advantage in it, that one’s memory works both ways.” Innocet recited on a singing tone.

“I”m sorry ?” the Doctor asked confusedly.

“Lewis Carroll. Those were the first conscious thoughts Alice ever shared with me. A TARDIS has an amazing memory, not only of the past and future, but also of all the rewritten histories. She doesn't share much with me, of course. No organic being would survive the flow of an eleven dimensions being's thoughts. But I know enough to tell you Gallifrey has been destroyed way more times than you are allowed to remember, and some of these stories are a bit more imaginative than yours. I'm sorry, it must have been a dreadful experience, but in the end, you know very little of the great scheme of Time.”

“So you think I'm wrong and Gallifrey can be saved one more time ?” 

“I don't think you're wrong, Doctor. I know it. The same way I know our Family survived.”

The Doctor smiled hesitantly.

“I guess the universe won't get rid of us so easily.”

Innocet smiled back and looked at the city around her.

“I'll miss this place” 

“Akihabara ?”

“Earth” she replied almost sadly “I understand why you like this planet so much, even if I've barely left this tiny island.”

“It's a wonderful place, isn't it ?” the Doctor conceded. “It's far from perfect, a lot of terrible things keep happening over and over again, but at least they're trying.”

“This planet is so... alive. Humans, with their ridiculous short life spans, they are always in movement, they never look back. Everytime a mistake is made, at least one individual rises against it.”

“You, of all people doing the apology of change ? Earth really has something about it.” the Doctor teased her.

“Being a woman of traditions doesn't mean I am totally against progress. Not if progress means making people's lives better.”

“What do you plan to do, when you're back on Gallifrey ? Politics ?”

Innocet scoffed.

“Don't be ridiculous ! I leave politics to boring old Time Lords.”

“What do you wish to do with your remaining lives, then ?”

Innocet turned to the Doctor and smiled like a mad woman. It was the same smile that had pierced the darkness as the sun had touched her face for the first time in centuries.

“I want to follow the purpose I've been loomed for. Being a Housekeeper. Keeping my House and all my Family safe and happy. And maybe, if the circumstances require it, keeping other people safe and happy.”

“It sounds like a good new start” 

“When I was alone in my TARDIS room, I read many books. I became fluent in a few Earth languages, and I filled my head with new ideas. People on Earth, they're trying their best, as you said. They might not be able to regenerate, but when someone's mind or body is broken, they try to find solutions. Those solutions are not always good, but they try, like the first fish that ventured out of water not so long ago.”

The Doctor listened carefully and put a hand on Innocet's arm.

“So you want to go back to Gallifrey and become a doctor ?”

“Don't take too much credit for this, Cousin” she said cheekily.

As they laughed together, a silhouette appeared from the other side of the street. The light was on her back and it was impossible to make out her traits, but the Doctor jumped on her feet. She looked different than her professor Hartman alter-ego, but she was unmistakable. Not a woman, but something wrapped in the idea of a woman.

“No need to bother Mr Bolt, I've got the materials” she said with a lopsided smile.

The Doctor circled her. She was short and ageless, long ash blond hair flowing around her even though there was no wind. 

“Where did you got them ?” 

She rolled her eyes theatrically, as to compensate the absence of expression on her porcelain blank face. 

“I bought them, of course. With the very honest money I earned with my very honest job. Why are you always so suspicious, Doctor ? Are you uncomfortable to see a TARDIS living her own life ?”

“No, I'm not" the Doctor immediately defended herself as Alice's words nudged her mind in a particularly itchy way.

“Please, Snail, Alice” Innocet tutted like a school teacher “can't you two put your differences aside and work together ?”

“Innocet, this TARDIS want to take my freedom away !” the Doctor retorted indignantly.

“I know we can all find a solution. You said you were alone, right ? Why don't you travel with Alice ?” Innocet tried to bargain. “Alice, I know you are currently bound to a Pilot, but the Doctor is very smart. I'm sure she can override this commend, right ?”

Innocet turned towards the Doctor with pleading eyes, as Alice was laughing like someone who already won the game.

“I suppose I could” the Doctor admitted. “Then you would be a free and totally independent TARDIS.”

“But...” Alice taunted.

“But we both know it's not what you want” the Doctor said warily.

The three of them were now standing under the bus stop, staring at each other as the uninterrupted flow of people seemed to avoid the glass and wide screens shelter.

“Innocet, you don't know the whole truth” the Doctor said.

“Tell her, then” Alice challenged her “at this point it doesn't matter anymore.”

“What truth ?” Innocet almost whimpered. “Alice, what do you hide from me ?”

“She's already a free and independent TARDIS” the Doctor finally explained. “She's a Type 53, and she theoretically needs a Pilot, but she got an upgrade.”

Innocet blinked, incredulous.

“Since when ?”

“Since she met a very competent Cyberman who agreed to do the job.”

“Then it's all settled down” Innocet said eagerly. 

“No, it's not. Because Alice isn't after freedom. Am I right, Alice ?” the Doctor asked, looking at the TARDIS straight in her eyes. 

“You are completely right” she humanoid shape answered.

“Then what are you after ?” Innocet asked softly.

“Revenge, of course. Against Gallifrey, and against all Time Lords. There are many legends around your Cousin. Some call her the Other, some prefer the Timeless Child. Lord Rassilon himself cowers in front of the Hybrid, while mothers scare their children with the name of Zagreus. TARDISes still whisper tales about the Grandfather, as they die slowly in the dark pit of the Capitol Vaults.”

“Alice wants to set the universe on fire, and she knows I am the most dangerous weapon of mass destruction in the whole time and space” the Doctor concluded. 

“I'm glad we understand each other, Doctor. I guess it's the moment we get out of this boring little planet.” 

Alice snapped her fingers and a lattice of metal fell over the open wall of the bus shelter. The frail edifice started pulsating, a wvorping sound escaping Alice's lips.


	16. Candid Friend

Owis hated this place. 

Hidden in his room, all lights off, he was turning this single thought over and over again in his easily distracted head. A fledershrew was hanging on his hand, the other ones on strings he had hung at the ceiling like plain Otherstide ornaments. The winged rodents were the closest things he had to friends. 

In the House, he had been free to play around, and he knew every nook and cranny of the endless corridors and empty rooms. There were large pieces of furniture to climb and to hide when he was in trouble with the Drudges. He was starting to feel claustrophobic in this tiny room were everything was too small to be amusing. 

He was feeling lonely too with no one to play with him. Rynde had made more interesting friends in the town below and none of his Cousins were nice with him. They were still blaming him for Arkhew's death, no matter how many times he had explain it was all Cousin Glospin's fault. Owis was angry too, because Arkhew had been his friend and Glospin had lied about everything. His existence wasn't a secret anymore, and yet he was still alive and well cared for. Sometimes he wanted to run away too, like Cousin Innocet. Wherever she was, it had to be better than this wretched Tower with nothing to do and no one to play with. He wished she would have taken him with her in her stolen TARDIS. It sounded like a lot of fun.

Iffalunar was working on an old and fascinating collection of chronicles about Rassilon and his early life during the Dark Ages. She enjoyed apocrypha texts above everything else. Everyone knew about Rassilon the Conqueror, the mighty Founding Father of Gallifrey and bringer if the Intuitive Revelation, but very few people knew about the scholar, the curator, the simple librarian. There was something comforting about the idea that Rassilon too had been sitting in a library like this one, commenting the classics of his time and going on in his daily life. Maybe they could have been friends. She wondered what Innocet would think about all her unorthodox musings. She would probably have rolled her eyes before exchanging a shameful smile. 

Iffalunar knew how Innocet really was, she employed herself to look stern and proper as the Housekeeper and acting Head of the House of Lungbarrow, but in private she enjoyed their idle conversations and shared pleasantries. She wasn't like the other Librarians and Archivists Iffalunar had frequented her whole life. Passion was running through her veins like fire. The same burning fire that had kept her alive and sane during the terrible centuries she had spent in disgrace. And now she was wandering through space and time in a stolen TARDIS. 

Sometimes, Iffalunar wondered what was keeping her away. Maybe she was stranded somewhere. Or she was lost in the tides of Time, desperately sailing back home like the legendary Ulysses from the Earth old texts. Or maybe she had forgotten them, and she was saving worlds with her illustrious Cousin. 

Unable to concentrate on her text anymore, Iffalunar carefully closed the antique leather bound volume and she left the Cerulean Archives. Her mind was always coming back to Innocet's Family. She didn't have a lot of contacts with her own Cousins, they were scattered all around the Capitol in prestigious offices and they didn't have a lot to say to each others. But for Innocet, it was another business. Her Family was her reason to live and wherever she was at this moment, she was certainly worried for them. Iffalunar didn't know much, except the whole lot of them had lost their minds during their centuries long entombment and Madam President Romanadvoratrelundar had allotted them a spare Security Tower made for a full squad of Chancellery Guards, as well as regular visits from a medical team. Innocet was always talking about those attempts to help with a mix of gratitude and frustration. She would very likely appreciate if a friend checked on them for her. She threw her favourite light blue robes over her shoulders and walked to the Tower.

In her walk across the endless corridors, she let her mind wander on each art piece adorning the walls. This place was her home and she knew most of the authorized areas like the back of her hand. In no time, she was at the defunct guard tower doors. Straightening to her whole height and smoothing the folds on her robe, she rang the bell and awaited with her brightest smile. Once, a Cousin of hers had told her the importance of a charming smile in any situation involving anyone of the Prydonian Chapter.

After a moment and several attempts in ringing, the door finally opened and Iffalunar's smile disappeared. Facing her was the most unpleasant face she had ever encountered in her long lives. The man's skin was the colour of a dirty chalk and she would have mistaken him for a walking corpse or a legendary Vampire if small, dark eyes weren't glancing at her coldly behind a curtain of greasy hair the color of a dusty cobblemouse. 

“What do you want ?” he grunted.

“Good evening, sir” she managed to reply with a perfect Cerulean smile “I am Head Archivist Iffalunar, of the Cerulean Chapter.”

“I said, what do you want ?” the man sounded more and more hostile and suddenly, Iffalunar regretted her idea.

“As you might know, I am a friend of your Cousin Innocet...”

The livid man let out a sinister laugh.

“That poor excuse of a Pythia is gone. Don't come back.”

He was about to slam the door at her, but Iffalunar cleared her throat.

“I know she's gone, sir. I came here to propose my services.”

“We have no need for a Cerulean librarian in this Tower” the man said with contempt. “Go back to your rubbish books and never come back.”

Before he slammed the heavy doors at her face, Iffalunar met the eyes of a young looking man watching from behind the scary fellow. Those were very sad eyes, lonely and lost. She managed to wave at the stranger before the doors where definitively shut.

Walking back to her rooms, she closed her eyes and tried to forget the pale man. She knew he would appear in her nightmare tonight and she dreaded that moment. She sat on a big, round shaped armchair and hugged herself in an attempt to chase the memory away.

“Ugh, Rynde is really a dirty old scarecrow !” a voice said at her left.

She got startled and turned around. The young man from sooner was standing awkwardly, knitting his pudgy fingers together.

“Hello” she said

“Hello” the young man echoed “You are Cousin Innocet's friend, aren't you ?”

“Yes !” she exclaimed with a renewed cheer “I am Iffalunariansilverwyndalor, Head Archivist at the Cerulean Academy. Poeple usually call me Iffalunar” she added when she noticed the confused frown on the boy's face.

“My name is Owis” he answered bluntly. 

Iffalunar jumped on her feet excitably.

“Off course ! Innocet talks a lot about you. And a woman called Jobiska. She says you two are her only true friends in the House of Lungbarrow !”

Owis blinked confusedly, and when he had finally proceeded the information, he smiled smugly.

“Yeah, I am the most promising member of this Family !”

Iffalunar chuckled softly and Owis was almost completely sure she wasn't making fun of him, so he chuckled back.

“So, who was that gloomy Vampire who slammed the door at me ?” 

“Cousin Rynde ? He thinks he's the boss since Innocet disappeared” Owis explain with disdain.

“My, that's terrible ! I hope he's not too mean with you.”

Owis shook his head.

“He's not the worst. He's drinking in Lower Len most of the day and he only hit if you're on his way.”

Iffalunar's smile disappeared and she extended her hand to touch the boy's arm. Owis stepped back and her retracted her hand awkwardly. 

“I hate this place” he finally blurted out.

“Which place ?” Iffalunar asked.

“The Capitol. It's ugly and everything is too small and too bright, and it smells weird. It makes my head hurt.”

The woman frowned and her slightly pointy nose rose to face the ceiling as if it had a life of its own and it was its job to show how offended its owner was. 

“Then you have very poor tastes, young man !” she declared proudly. “This mighty Citadel is the brightest jewel of Gallifrey's crown !”

“Yeah, it's what I said, it's too bright.”

Iffalunar stared at Owis and let out a girlish giggle. She was unable to stay mad any longer anyway. The young man frowned as he tried to decipher the strange woman. Maybe she was crazy too, or maybe she was a normal person and normal people were very weird. 

“Are you a Time Lady ?” he finally asked.

“Yes I am” she said proudly. “I graduated with the highest grades in Ancient Gallifreyan History and Alien Civilizations and Culture.”

“Cousin Innocet is always reading books about the Old Times. She also told me Time Lords and Time Ladies wear big round collars. Why don't you have a big round collar ?”

Iffalunar laughed again, but Owis didn't mind. It reminded him of Innocet when they played Sepulchasm together and she had to hover his tokens. Or when they had been stuck under the scary storm and she had jumped in the pools of muddy water.

“I don't need it to have a stroll or visit friends” she explained.

“Friends ?” Owis asked.

Iffalunar tilted her head and danced on one foot, suddenly returning to her usual shyness.

“I was thinking, since I miss Innocet a lot, and her Cousins miss her too, we could be friends and wait for her together” she finally admitted.

Owis made a vague gesture in direction of the Tower.

“My Cousins don't miss her. They think Rynde should be the boss. They're a bunch of idiots, Rynde is a dirty, stinky drunkard who lies all the time. It's his fault Innocet is gone !”

Iffalunar flinched, her eyes opening wide with shock.

“But you, you miss her, right ?”

“Yeah, she's nice with me and she promised she would bring us back home soon.”

“Then, we could become friends !” Iffalunar said cheerfully. “I would show you around and I'm sure you would change your mind about the Capitol.”

“Maybe ?” Owis muttered.

“Then it's all settled up !” 

Taking poor Owis's hand, she dragged him in a series of endless corridors, commenting the tour with the same energy she had shown since they had met.

“And this is a painting made by a Patrex artist known as Quaterian the Blind. Legends say he guided his hand using the vibration of the artron energy.”

Owis blinked at the mish-mash of colors. He had no problem imagining a blind man painting that. With a pang of nostalgia, he thought about the portraits suspended above the creek in the North annexe. Once he had drawn some silly mustaches on a very stern looking old gentleman and he had been forced to come back swimming because the vicious Drudge had taken his boat back to the bank.

“How long did it take before you stopped finding this place boring ?” Owis finally asked.

“I don't think I ever found this place boring” Iffalunar said. “I arrived at the Academy when I was eight, then I spent all my holidays at a Cousin's apartments in Sector 6. He's a lecturer, the greatest specialist in native Gallifreyan flora.”

“And when did you go back home ?”

“I told you, the Capitol is my home.”

“No, I mean, when did you go back to your House ?” Owis insisted.

Iffalunar lowered her head and finally admitted “I don't have a House. Not anymore.”

“It destroyed itself too ?” Owis asked, tactless as always.

Iffalunar nodded and smiled sadly.

“No, not exactly. It went extinct.”

“How is it possible ?”

“When I was ten years old, the Kithriarch of Silverwynd died in a violent accident that didn't allow him to regenerate. He was quite young and had never designed a successor, so as the tradition wants, our House was placed under protection of a more powerful Family, just the time another Kithriarch is chosen. But they made sure it never happened, and they took our Loom away to extend their allotted quota.”

“It's unfair !” Owis squealed like an angry shrew.

“It's how politics work on Gallifrey.” Iffalunar admitted with a defeated frown. “I don't miss my House, I have no memories of it.”

“What happened to it ? The wood, the furniture, the Drudges ?”

“I think it died, or maybe it just became a wild place. Rumors say the Housekeeper refused to leave and went mad. They even say she might still be there, neither dead or alive, haunting the overgrown trees. It's a bit spooky, isn't it ?” the woman added with a mischievous spark in her eyes.

“Not really” Owis admitted. “You should try to return there, it might be fun.”

Iffalunar giggled again “I doubt it, it's probably full of pigbears, if the whole place hasn't burnt or collapsed already. Houses usually don't last long when you remove their Loom and Family.”

“Why are you laughing ? It's sad.” 

“It is, but I don't really mind. In the end we're all children of Rassilon, no matter our House.”

“You know what ?” Owis asked as he faced his new friend “when the House of Lungbarrow is regrown from its roots, I'll ask the Doctor if you can become our Cousin.”

Iffalunar stood dumbfounded at the young man's impetuous assurance. She didn't find the courage to tell him adoption between Chapters was a bit more complicated than just asking nicely, or that she was proud to be the last of the Silverwynd.


	17. The Traditional Old Man and the Stylish Girl

The Doctor grunted, rising a hand to her head. She could feel the room spinning and nausea was teasing her dangerously. She forced herself to open her eyes, fighting to take control of her body.

She was in a workshop. A TARDIS workshop, she corrected herself. Most of it was hidden in darkness, actually, only a small circle was lit by a flickering spotlight above her head. She caught her grip on a dismembered console and cautiously rose on her feet. The world was spinning faster and little stars swarmed in her vision field. She looked quickly around and realised she was alone. No trace of Innocet. Alice had obviously separated them. The rogue TARDIS didn't need a Pilot anymore, and yet she seemed uncommonly attached to hers. The Doctor knew she was missing something, something obvious, but she couldn't tell what yet. 

This place was no ordinary TARDIS room. It had been designed to look like an actual TARDIS repair workshop, or judging by the state of the spare pieces and the lonely machine taking dust in a corner, the last step before decommission and total destruction. This was a TARDIS graveyard, a tomb for living spaceship to rot for a few centuries before the Time Lord administration finally authorized a complete rest. The gray cylinder was identical to most early TARDISes. Pre-War, but not completely primitive, something between Type 30 and type 70, maybe. The Doctor wasn't an expert enough to recognize a TARDIS in default mode at this distance and in semi-obscurity. Now she realised it, there was only one source of light, a flickering and primitive spotlight dangling under a high ceiling. It only created a small patch of visible space, the rest of the place hidden in a complete darkness. It was almost as if the TARDIS had only generated this small bubble of reality. 

The Doctor shook her head and walked towards the darkness. If her intuition was correct... 

Suddenly, running steps echoed between the invisible walls. No time to think, the Doctor dived head first into the darkness. She was pleased her intuition had been right. Outside of the light, there was nothing, no spare TARDIS pieces, no walls, nothing except a solid ground, thanks her good luck. From here, she could observe the scene as an outsider, the tiny spot of light flickering like a three dimensional holographic TV stage.

She caught her breath, bracing herself for what was coming. She had noticed it as soon as she had managed to force her eyelids open. This TARDIS workshop wasn't any TARDIS workshop, and this wasn't any day. 

In the holographic scene, a silhouette materialized from the dark. An old man with white longish hair combed backwards. He was half hidden under a black cape, but the Doctor had no need to see his face. She knew exactly what his expression looked like, and what thoughts were running in his head. She remembered it as clearly as her earlier discussion with Innocet in the tea house. After all, you don't forget the most important day of your life so easily.

The First Doctor walked right to his future self and inspected her thoroughly. As if he was judging if she was worth the trouble of leaving Gallifrey. 

Except he wasn't inspecting his future self but something the Doctor hidden in the dark couldn't see. He finally mouthed a few words the Doctor couldn't make out and entered the TARDIS at the other end of the room. Now she had no problem identifying the Type 40 as it dematerialized in a ruckus of whirping and wvorping sounds.

The scene was empty again, the image of the TARDIS returning in a blink and the loop ready to start again. A few minutes of footage preciously kept inside Alice's data bank. The Doctor was tempted to stay and watch the hologram another time, but she had the feeling there was something to make out of it, and other pieces of the puzzle to gather. Using her sonic as a torch, she started exploring the darkness, careful not to let the lit up circle out of sight.

The ground was solid, and the space didn't seem limited by any walls. The Doctor suspected it might be some spherical construction, like walking around a miniature planet suspended into a large vacuum. She started to fidget with her sonic to distract herself from the panic. At least, Innocet was safe, she reasoned with herself. Alice had no reason to kill or hurt her Cousin, not with the still undefined link binding them together. There was an explanation actually, a very simple one. The kind of that make you scream “I knew it !” when it happens in a TV show. It was nagging the Doctor like a little ant trying to find a way out, but she refused to open the lid. 

Of all forces in the universe, she had a total confidence in Innocet's loyalty. Sure, her older Cousin had every reason in the world to want the Doctor's demise, and if it this place was a twisted kind of punishment, it was earned. 

The Doctor chased the thought away when she realised she had lost the light. With a burst of panic, she started running and her eyes finally spotted the beam again. If she had an enigma to resolve, it was there, in the TARDIS workshop. She grinned, a good escape room was hard to find these days.

When she arrived to the lit up place, she frowned. Something felt different, but she couldn't exactly say what. Everything was at the same place, spare pieces and forlorn Type 40. Maybe the light was flickering a bit more, or the colours were duller. No, it was something else. It's only when the steps and voices started echoing she realised what was wrong.

It was a completely different footage, and the resolution was slightly lower.

Alongside the heavy running steps, there were lighter ones. They rhythm was a bit faster and the sound they made was clearer than the muffled thumps of the Doctor's foot. It suggested a smaller fugitive, one wearing heeled shoes, maybe girls boots. 

The Doctor braced herself for the apparition of the familiar face. It was something to see her own younger face, if it was younger, or still her face, but she wasn't sure she could stare at her grand-daughter without shedding a tear. But she watched anyway, young Susan rushing after her old Doctor of a grandfather. The young girl was ready to jump in darkness, joining the silent watcher, but the old man caught her by the elbow, dragged her into the Type 40 and dematerialised.

Now the Doctor had a seedling of an answer. Alice wanted to show her those memory scraps, and she probably wanted the Doctor to make something out of them. Using her sonic as a torch, she returned in the darkness, ready to face another version of the most important day of her life.

The Library of the Cerulean Academy was as boring as the other parts of the Capitol, but at least it was deserted and the anciant leather bound volumes and wood cravings had a familiar smell. Iffalunar was sitting in a high backed chair, facing a table way too small for the amount of books displayed open on seemingly random pages. He was bored, but it was either that, or going back to the Tower. He could leave the Capitol and wander in Lower Len, but he didn't like this place, too many people. He wondered if it would be less scary with someone to talk to.

“Iffalunar” he prompted.

“Yes ?” she lifted her head and flashed a smile.

“Have you finished reading yet ? I'm bored.”

She frowned. “I suppose I could stop any time, but what would you like to do instead ?”

“I don't know, we could get out and do something fun.”

She blinked in surprise and closed the heavy leather bound volume.

“What do you mean by “get out” ? There is no places more interesting than the Library. Except maybe the Museum under the Panopticon. It must be open today, we could go there and admire the Sash of Rassilon !” 

Owis puffed his cheeks.

“Boring ! I was thinking about Lower Len, or maybe the wild orchard at Mount Lung's foot.”

Iffalunar hiccuped and snorted like she had heard the funniest joke.

“Hey, I'm serious ! Are all Time Lords dusty bookworms like you ?”

Iffalunar stopped laughing and made that offended face again, the one with her nose taking off. 

“And what do you find so interesting about Lower Len suddenly ? It's full of Shoboggans and Commoners. No one goes to Lower Len.”

“I go to Lower Len” Owis said “and what is a Commoner ?”

“You know, someone who's not a Time Lord.”

“I am not a Time Lord.”

Iffalunar caught a glance of the young man's pained face before he turned to the doors.

“Wait, I'm sorry...” 

“Cousin Rynde was right about you Timeys. I don't need you to wait for Innocet.”

Iffalunar ran after him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Please, forgive me. I really want to be your friend."

Owis stopped on his tracks and stared at Iffalunar.

“So, you want to come with me ?”

The Time Lady nodded shyly.

“Yes. But promise me we won't get lost.” 

“Lost ? I thought you had lived here your whole life ?”

“Yes, in the Citadel. But Lower Len is off limits. I suppose it's alright, you won't tell my Cousins and we'll avoid the Guards.”

“Sure, I won't tell anyone. But why do they tell you what to do ? I thought you were at least a thousand years old and... fourth regeneration ?”

Iffalunar shrugged. “They don't tell me what to do. There are things Time Lords don't do, that's all. Like, wandering outside of the Capitol unless they're on a mission.”

“I wonder why people want to become Time Lords.” Owis said in a brooding voice.

The Doctor found the next records one after the other and sat cross legged at the same place every time, ready for the show to start. She vaguely wondered what detail would change this time. All the versions of her departure from Gallifrey were stacked in her head and it was hard for her to remember one more clearly than the other in the overall blurriness of her memories. 

The resolution was even worse, static buzzed like snow on an old TV screen. She wondered what caused that. Her first guess was that the stacking of simultaneous memories would corrupt the oldest ones, but she was pretty sure it was the other way round and she was following chronological order, if paradoxes can be sorted chronologically. What was coming had to be a more recent update of the truth.

The footsteps again, Susan whining and the Doctor hushing her inside the Type 40. The Doctor was becoming numb to sadness after a few times. In this footage, she had a better view of the two protagonists, their eyes looking right through her like bad actors staring at the camera. If the holograms hadn't been so discolored and shaky like an old battered VHS tape, she would have sworn they were trying to enter in contact with her. It was so unsettling she almost missed the third figure working in the shadow. A woman, dressed in technician clothes.The Doctor squinted and moved slightly to the left, trying to see the woman's face. She had no memories of a technician getting in her way, and yet this silhouette felt vaguely familiar. Short, straight hair, round face.

Of course. Clara Oswald, the Impossible Girl. She must have prevented the Great Intelligence from disrupting this fixed point too. 

The Clara echo called out and the First Doctor turned his head. They had a quick chat, looked like she was trying to sell him the Type 40, and they finally dematerialised.

The Doctor wondered if her timeline had been tempered with since, if “since” made any sense in that situation. This place could as well be some sort of a probability engine, then there would be an infinity of records to work with. Unless it is something else. The Doctor started prancing in the dark , trying to put her finger on the detail she was missing. Such an important detail. As she walked around the beam, the obvious jumped right to her eyes. No matter how many steps as she took, she was always looking at the scene from the same perspective. This wasn't an actual three dimensional holographic recording, only an illusion, like a fancy pop-up book.

Of course ! It wasn't a question of how many time she watched the tapes, but of how she watched them. Everytime, she had looked from the same point, her eyes matching the camera's focus. Even if she jumped inside and looked at every detail, she wouldn't get anything new. She didn't remember seeing any camera or recording device, meaning the person the memories belonged to was hidden in the dark. 

She jumped in again before the loop started and looked around. From inside, she could touch objects, and was able to move them. It felt like being in a video game simulation with a nice amount of interactivity. TARDIS bits, and the old and familiar Type 40. Nothing else, unless...

“Of course ! Stupid Doctor !” she exclaimed “Alice, I know where I am ! This is your black box !”

She walked around the small circle, patting the darkness with her hand. She had been wrong thinking the place was surrounded by empty space. This meant she had stepped through a door the first time. The door of a TARDIS.

“You've recorded all of this while you were stored in the Workshop. Those are your memories, your only memories. You were brand new when the Time Lords decommissioned you. All you ever saw during those centuries was a dark and deserted Workshop. A death row, from your point of view. But something changed at some point, and you were able to make contact with Innocet. What happened ? What did my foolish and heroic Cousin did that was powerful enough to change history ?”

The Doctor stepped out of the memory footage and looked around. 

“I'm pretty sure I've watched them all, and if I didn't it doesn't matter because most of them are reruns of the original anyway. That's the problem with remakes. They are either too faithful to the original and the fans complain about it, or they take too many liberties and the crowd starts screaming about retcons. Interesting word, retcon. Short for retroactive continuity.”

The Doctor pointed her sonic screwdriver to the ground, aiming at the core of the black box. Lights flickered all around her and beams of light appeared one after the other. So the light was projected from below. 

“I think I get it now.” the Doctor started another brilliant monologue, hopefully addressing to the ship itself. “Of course ! You said I should have stolen you, but it didn't mean what I thought !” The Doctor twirled around, arms extended to encompass every memories playing at once. “This is what happened, the day I stole the TARDIS. My TARDIS. The Old Girl. Or as I call her in private, Sexy.”

the Doctor jumped inside one of the projections and climbed over the dismantled console.

“When you said “should” that didn't mean you wished I had stolen you. That meant I should have stolen you, like the apple should fall on the ground. Implying something happened that should not have happened..”

She jumped on the ground again and walked out of the memory and right into another one. As she was speaking, her younger-older self was showing around to Susan, visibly not in a hurry in this version of the story.

“Except that makes no sense, because I didn't stole you. Unless I did.”

She circled her other self and touched his hat. Seeing no reaction on his part, she snatched it and put it on her own head. 

“—but there’s one great advantage in it, that one’s memory works both ways.” She was now making a strange bee dance between the beams. "It's what you told Innocet. Your first conscious thoughts ever. Which means your memory of me stealing you might be a fake memory. Or as I said earlier, a shameless retcon ."

She jumped into another footage and pulled the cords around the First Doctor's neck. The old man stayed completely oblivious, allowing his future self to steal the garment "You'll thank me later" she said with a pat on his shoulder. Then she jumped out again.

"As I said, what you took for a genuine memory was nothing but a fake, a lie I haven't told yet. Honestly, you should never trust me as a writer, I have a terrible habit of ignoring canon ! I mean, I told Arthur Conan Doyle his readers weren't ready for my stories, but he said he loved them. Glad I dissuaded him from stealing ideas from the TV show. Victorian England was definitively not ready for Wattpad. Wait, what was I saying before I started rambling ?"

The Doctor pointed her screwdriver to one of the beam, and the projector on the ground started spinning, changing the orientation of the scene. There wasn't a single spot of darkness anymore with every projections running in endless loops. This was all like a huge mirrors house, and there was nothing the Doctor liked more about mirrors than creating infinite tunnels. Which would soon happen when the imaginary door would face another imaginary door.

"Ah, yes, retcons ! Of course, the newest version would be hard to swallow for the old fans. I've changed quite a bit since last time I stole my TARDIS. But luckily for me, your black box is running out of memory, and your records are losing in resolution every time. If I put on this cape" she threw the cape over her shoulders "and this hat" she threw the hat in the air and it magically fell on her head "and walk through this door..."

The Doctor took a breath and jumped into the infinite tunnel she had created combining two of the records. 

"Geronimo !"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Missy, leave this body ! Seriously, maybe the Doctor is a bit OOC here, but this monologue was so funny to write.


	18. At the End of Spring

"Have you found anything, K9 ?" Romana asked the robot dog as she came back to her office at the end of the day.

"Negative, Mistress."

"The investigation reports mentioned the disappearance of a TARDIS Type 53. Back when the Doctor stole his, decommissioned TARDISes didn't appear in the tracking system anymore, but I dare to assume they changed that after they realized their mistake."

"Decommissioned TARDISes are registered until complete annihilation, Mistress, but I cannot operate a complete scan of the whole space and time continuum within a period of only three macro-spans.”

“Excuse me, K9” Romana said, giving a gentle pat on the dog's head “I hope Leela and her K9 will have better luck.” 

She stared thoughtfully by the window and muttered for herself. 

“If only we had the slightest clue of the kidnapper's motivation, we could restrain our searches.”

Leela was flickering through a terminal when Andred entered the office.

“I suppose the President knows you are here” he said with a sigh.

“I'm here on Romana's orders.”

“Let me guess, it has something to do with the disappearance of this Housekeeper.”

“Her name's Innocet, and yes, I'm trying to find out her captors motivation.”

“By looking into my terminal ?” Andred asked dryly.

“No, I was just killing time.” Leela admitted with a smile. “I need your help to get in contact with the CIA.”

The Castellan slipped behind his wife and shut the terminal down, only earning a playful kick on the back of his hand.

“I could help better if I knew what's going on” he pointed out.

“I already told you, Innocet disappeared last week. According to her youngest Cousin, it might be a plot of the CIA.”

“I know all the facts. I mean, I want to know what's going on with this woman.”

Leela frowned.

“What do you mean ?”

“I mean, how is she important enough to be a first class priority ? People disappear everyday, Leela, people way more important than a mere Housekeeper who's not even a Time Lady, or any form of nobility.”

“If I didn't know you, Time Lord, I would believe you are a race of heartless machines. Innocet is Romana's friend, and a Cousin of the Doctor”.

Andred shrugged.

“I have doubts about the first one, they are merely acquaintances, but I can't help thinking about her link to the Doctor. Why kidnapping a relative of the Doctor ? Blackmail ? Surely not, your friend showed very little remorse to abandon his own bloodline to a fate worse than death. It must be something else. Information, I'd say. Leela, do you have any idea of what she might know ?”

The young woman shook her head.

“Nothing more than the CIA and the President already know.”

“I heard rumors about the Matrix. Please, tell me if it's true.”

Leela hesitated a moment, but K9 spoke first.

“That information is classified.”

“I am the Castellan, it's my job to investigate classified files” Andred insisted.

“Affirmative, Castellan. You have access granted to part of the data.”

“Please, K9, tell us what you know” Leela cooed, rubbing the dog between the ears. It wriggled its tail and let out an electronic low purr.

“On the day the President reintegrated the data from the Loom of Lungbarrow into the Matrix, an incident happened. Housekeeper Innocet stood too close from the Matrix gate and her mind got infected for a few minutes. What happened afterward is classified, but the report testifies she doesn't retain any memories of the leaked information.”

“I suppose the content of the leaked information is classified too ?” Andred tried anyway.

“Not classified, Castellan. Unknown.”

“So you're telling me someone in possession of unknown, possibly highly classified Time Lord secrets is currently lost into the universe ? And possibly kept hostage by enemies of Gallifrey ?”

Leela bit her lower lip.

“I never thought about it that way” she admitted. 

“I'm starting to think that woman should have been impeached !” Andred growled.

“I'm glad to hear sensible opinions from you, Castellan” said a male voice.

Leela pulled her dagger out, but Andred stopped her with a hand on her elbow. The man facing them was wearing the black and white CIA robes.

“Torvald” Andred greeted him coldly “always lurking for scraps of information like a pig rat in a garbage hole.”

“Actually, I am here on the President's orders” the CIA man said with a smirk.

“Liar !” Leela exclaimed “we all know you're the ones who disposed of Innocet.”

Andred rose a hand and invited Torvald to have a seat, going as far as serving him a glass of the dark alcohol Gallifreyans made with their native fruits.

“I see you've listened to the dim Cousin. Not the sharpest tool in his shed, and Rassilon knows the concurrence isn't hard. But to my greatest shame, he's not the only victim of our fake agent.”

“Fake agent ?” Andred asked with a skeptical frown.

“Of course, I can trust your discretion on this affair.”

“Only if I can trust yours, Coordinator.”

The two men stared at each other like a pair of wolves under the cold moon, and Leela surprised herself finding some majesty in them.

“I'll tell you everything I know” Torvald said. “A few weeks ago, Lord Ferain asked for an agent. An easy mission to frame an unsuspecting civilian. Nothing dangerous or particularly gruesome : setting up a fake murder attempt, making sure the woman is arrested and finding an excuse to submit her to the Mind Probe, then releasing her with no harm done.”

“Nothing shady at all, by your holiest morals.” Andred mocked.

“A few hours of Mind Probe for the sake of Gallifrey, it's a small price. The civilian herself agreed on that and asked of her own volition. Really, it was an act of mercy. Imagine being an ordinary service worker, not even a Time Lord, and finding yourself with classified secrets stuck in your head. Presidents have gone mad for less than that.”

“Except she didn't have those secrets.” Andred said.

“She didn't at the time, but a little bird told me she got them back soon after. And by a little bird, I mean our Lady President herself.” 

Leela frowned at these news.

“It's a lie. I spoke with Innocet right before she disappeared, and I can assure you she didn't have any memory of the incident.”

“I said she had the information, not that she remembered anything.” Torvald explained with an exasperated sigh.

Andred nodded in agreement and Leela rolled her eyes. Time Lords speaking in riddles, as always.

“I suppose you know what kind of secrets we're dealing with ?” the Castellan asked.

Torvald looked around the office.

“The communication systems are off line” Andred assured him.

“We cannot be sure, but if it is what we think it is, the Matrix might have revealed the best kept secret of Gallifrey. The real identity of the Time Lord known as the Doctor.”

Leela scoffed, her awkward cough turning into a wild chuckle, to the two men's dismay.

“Is that all ?”

“I don't think you realize the implications of such a forbidden knowledge, my Lady” Torvald retorted with indignation. 

“I know the Doctor is a big deal, but is real identity is barely a secret at all. I was there when we entered his mind and witnessed everything. How the old Hero turned traitor threw himself in the Prime Loom to be reborn centuries later.”

Torvald turned around in panic, as if he expected to see indiscreet eyes spying on them.

“You can't say such things out loud !”

Leela smirked and shrugged.

“So, is that all ? Because Innocet already knew all of this from first hand.”

Torvald shook his head.

“You seem full of yourself, Lady Leela, but there's a question I doubt even you can answer. Where does the Other comes from and what was he really ?”

“What he was ?” she repeated. “Are you implying he wasn't Gallifreyan ?”

“I don't imply anything. No one knows the real nature of this mysterious third Founder, but legends say the Matrix still remembers, and it is the most important secret of Gallifrey. The key to the foundation of our whole civilization.” 

"So the mighty civilization of the Time Lords is built on a lie ?" Leela taunted "I am not surprised anymore, always deception and betrayals, that's the only thing your rulers are good for."

The Doctor had braced herself for a long fall in the dark, so she confusedly put one foot after the other on the solid ground underneath, and squinted at the bright light, too much of a contrast after the pitch darkness of the Black Box.

“Oh, nice ! I like it here, very Harry Potter !” 

She was in a long Gothic cloister made of white wood and honey colored stones polished by thousands of years worth of steps. Golden morning light was flooding the windows and a light breeze was running between the arcades, bringing a flowery smell and the song of spring birds. The Doctor found herself smiling like a schoolgirl on her last day of school. 

“Looks nice, and strangely familiar, even if I can't put my finger on why it looks so familiar. Another of your riddles, Alice ? Maybe you should have called yourself the Mad Hatter. Hats are cool, I've had all sorts of hats in my fourteen lives.”

The Doctor took a few steps, her feet almost jumping on the inviting flat stone tiles and soft moss growing between them.

“This place feels like childhood. Happy childhood, definitively not mine.” she whispered to herself. “Is there someone singing ?” 

She closed her eyes and listened. The loudest sound came from the birds, but if she focused enough, she could also hear the wood creaking, probably the voice of sentient trees, the muffled shuffling of small rodents, and something else, something like a voice. It was so faint the Doctor wasn't sure if it was sound or a telepathic link. She followed the voice, walking through the cloister and turning in a corridor on her right, then climbing a flight of irregular stairs. She could now hear a distinct voice, childlike and playful. The Doctor tried to concentrate on the words.

Kagome kagome  
The bird in the cage,  
When, oh when will it come out  
In the night of dawn  
The crane and turtle slipped  
Who is behind you now?

The Doctor shivered. Children voices made any nursery rythme unnerving, especially children voices that didn't belong to real children. Now she stood by an arched window, she could peer into a small courtyard below. A little girl was skipping rope on a steady pace, except she was approximately 6.5 feet tall and was to Time Lords what a child was to other humanoid species, except for her fully formed body. As she was landing and rising in the air, two pigtails of autumn red were floating up and down and her rust colored robe was swelling like a sail everytime her feet touched the tiles. The Doctor smiled at the once familiar silhouette and pushed the vermin eaten door leading to the encased garden. 

“Hello, Innocet”she whispered softly.

The young girl stopped in her tracks and stood still, facing the oddly dressed stranger. She had the greenest eyes, of the same saturated hues as the leaves and grass. Green eyes in a predominantly orange and red picture. A handful of freckles had been haphazardly splashed on her rosy face. She frowned and put her fists on her hips.

“Who are you, visitor ?” she asked “Have you asked Housepitality to the Drudges before you venture into the ancient House of Lungbarrow ?” 

The Doctor smiled dearly.

“I don't need Housepitality. I am a Cousin of yours, born from this Loom and raised in this House” 

Those words had left her lips like an old record, forgotten in a dark corner of her mind. She wasn't even sure what it meant anymore, but the girl made an upset face.

“You are lying, madam. I know every Cousin in this House, I could tell you their 44 names by age and alphabetical order” she said proudly.

“How old are you ?” the Doctor asked.

“Eight and a half, almost nine.” 

“Then I haven't been loomed yet. But you will soon become my older Cousin and we'll play all sorts of games together.”

The girl nodded.

“Cousin Archibolt is very sick, and on his last regeneration. You must be his Replacement then. How did you arrive ? Do you have a TARDIS ?” she asked with excitement.

“Yes, but it's parked far away. I came by the long road.”

“It's forbidden to cross your own timeline.”

“You are a very serious little girl.”

“I will be the Housekeeper one day. Since it's my duty to know all my Cousins, what is your name ?”

The Doctor smiled and walked closer.

“It's a secret I cannot tell you yet. But you will call me Snail.”

“Snail ?” Innocet repeated with a giggle “That's a funny name ! I love snails, Cousin Arkhew says their little houses are bigger on the inside, but I know it's a lie.”

“Some lies make the truth a little prettier. Tell me, Cousin Innocet, who live here with you ?”

The girl tilted her head and started counting on her fingers.

“The Ordinal-General Quences has his office in the House. Housekeeper Satthralope, of course. Also Cousins Almund and Celesia who aren't needed at the Capitol at this time of the year. And Cousin Arkhew who practices his art in our gardens.”

“That's not a lot of people for such a big place. You must feel lonely.”

Innocet shook her head, then nodded shyly.

“The House is my friend, and I have too much work to get bored. Sometimes Cousin Arkhew plays with me and makes me little toys.”

“That's lovely” the Doctor said.

“Do you want to see my dolls ? I keep them hidden from Satthralope in a special place.”

“Yes, I'm curious to see your treasure.”

Innocet smiled with delight and took the Doctor's hand, taking her under a narrow passage hidden by thick ivy. This place felt different from the previous one. The environment was tangible and didn't have a grainy resolution, like the Black Box records. This was very likely an actual room in the TARDIS. Now the Doctor also knew she could touch Innocet, excluding the simple light-based hologram. A TARDIS could also build animated objects such as artificial bodies using Block Transfer Computation, which was probably the method Alice had used to create her Maribel Hartman avatar. Puppets, barely more than solid projections.

Innocet's secret room was an old attic full of wonders. Large chests were overflowing with antique clothes and funny hats, and paintings of forgotten people and places were hanging on the walls. The Doctor grabbed a moth-eaten ceremony robe and a Cardinal collar half torn apart. The girl giggled.

“My Lady Cardinal” she curtsied at the Doctor.

Innocet dived under a pile of old rags and produced a beautiful doll made of fabrics and wax. The hair was a bright orange, framing a pale and majestic face. The robes were sewn with blue silk and pricey lace. 

“I got a full set of puppets last Otherstide. But my favourite one is the Pythia. Isn't she beautiful ?”

The Doctor nodded and picked a discarded puppet with no face, only a black hooded cape.

“I like the Other too” Innocet said. “I've always wondered what's under his hood, but no matter how many books I check, I can never find a picture of his face.”

“When Lord Ferain called the agent who had volunteered for the mission to give her her reward, the strangest thing happened” Torvald told Andred and Leela.

“Let me guess” the Castellan said “the agent said she had never accepted such a mission.”

“Correct.”

Leela frowned.

“How is that possible ? Didn't your boss asked her directly. You can't possibly be stupid enough to talk about top secret matters over a screen ?” she asked bemused.

“Lord Ferrain had met the agent in person. Which leaves us with a few possibilities : the agent is making a fool of us, she got a memory wipe, or an unknown meddler usurped her identity. I don't see any reason she would have lied about participating in a successful mission, and no trace of mind wipe has been found, which leaves us with the usurpation theory.”

“You mean a shape-shifter ?” Leela asked. “Because you said “she”, but the agent who attacked Owis in the alley was a man. Unless of course you have to deal with an organization.”

“For the moment we have every reason to suspect a single individual.”

“By the way you phrase that, I assume you have a suspect already” Andred said with a reluctant admiration. 

“Correct. Time Lords cannot shape-shift and our Director of Allegiance wouldn't be fooled by a simple perception filter. Which leaves us with the only shape-shifting specie native to Gallifrey, specie that is conveniently linked to our case.”

“You mean a TARDIS ?” Andred asked, already picking up the general shape of the puzzle.

“I mean one TARDIS in particular, one that disappeared the same night the Houskeeper did.”

Leela turned to her husband.

“I don't understand. I know TARDISes are sentient and can take an infinity of shapes, but how could a ship turn into a Time Lord ?”

“The Doctor's TARDIS is a primitive model” Torvald explained “we since have developed more advanced ones with better IA and Chameleon Circuits sophisticated enough to take the shape of a living creature. Those humanoid freaks have been causing havoc in Lower Len for a while, so they don't get stored anymore.”

“Let me guess, you execute them instead” Leela said with disgust.

“Terminate them would be more accurate” Torvald corrected her.

“And you are the ones calling me a savage.”

Andred exchanged a sorry look with his wife and took over the conversation.

“Then why was this Type 53 still in sector 7 ?”

“Type 53 are not part of the humanoid class. They can communicate and produce convenient solid holograms, like every time machine since the Type 50, but their IA is still too rudimentary to be classified as an autonomous consciousness.”

“And yet you suspect one of having infiltrated the CIA” Andred said with a pinch of irony.

“I never said it did it on its own” Torvald corrected him. “By the way, how advanced is the scanning process ?”

“As far as I know, Romana's K9 hasn't found anything yet” Leela admitted.

“Of course, scanning the whole space and time continuum won't lead to any result soon. I bet she didn't even look for artron traces on Gallifrey in the close past. Let's say the last months.”

Leela and Andred exchanged an alarmed glance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this chapter, I'm back to the basics ^^. Young Innocet is heavily inspired by Fuschia Groan, because I wanted to pay homage to Marc Platt and his Gormenghast references, and also because I love Gormenghast and Fuschia is my favourite character in the Titus Groan novel (I've only read this one so far, and most of Boy in Darkness ^^).


	19. Kagome Kagome, Cinderella's Cage

Innocet's secret attic was actually a rather narrow tower of two levels that should have been connected by a spiraling flight of stairs in the past, but were now separated by an open chasm in the wooden flooring. Overgrown branches had entirely covered it, hiding its existence to the outside observer. When the young mistress was coming to her domain, the ivy would withdraw from the windows, allowing the golden sunlight in. The Doctor could feel the love running through the sap and whispers of the silvery blue leaves.

The young girl herself was curled in a weaved cage of fresh branches hanging from the high ceiling above the chasm. The nest-like bed was swinging softly, lulling its occupier to a lethargic state. A book was laying open on her chest, discarded by the sleepy child. The Doctor watched her fondly. A living illustration escaped from a children fairy tales book. 

It would have been impossible to say how much time had passed. The sun was still hanging low above the crest of Mount Lung, frozen in its course in an everlasting summer evening. The Doctor had already explored the two levels of the tower, using a small ladder. It was mainly furnished with forgotten chests full discarded pieces of junk. Old-timey clothes and Otherstide ornaments, yellowed lace and portraits of long forgotten Cousins Innocet probably knew by name. It was a normal attic, absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. In other words, a child's treasure cavern. 

The Doctor picked up a little dust on her finger and licked it. This was the first odd detail she noticed : there wasn't a single speck of dust on the shelve. She pulled the sonic screwdriver out of her pocket and scanned the surrounding. This place was exactly what she had suspected, a simple TARDIS room. Block Transfer Computation recreating the House of Lungbarrow, or rather the idea of the House of Lungbarrow seen through the eyes of a child. She pointed the sonic screwdriver toward Innocet. The young girl blinked lazily.

“What are you doing ?” she asked with a yawn.

The Doctor looked at her readings and frowned.

“You are definitively Innocet.”

“You're talking nonsense, Snail !” the young girl giggled.

The Doctor smile, torn apart between worry and relief. 

“People say that to me all the time, but usually they are angry, but not you, Cousin Innocet. You are smiling.” 

“It's because I like you. I can't wait for you to be out of the Loom. Are we going to be great friends ?”

“You are the first friend I ever had.”

“And we'll be together for ever and ever, until we're old like Housekeeper Satthralope and Uncle Quences ? Wouldn't it be wonderful if you became the next Kithriarch ?”

The Doctor felt something warm rolling down her cheek.

“Yes, it's such a brilliant idea.”

“Why are you crying ?” Innocet asked, then her own smile faltered. “Oh, it's not going to happen, is it ?”

The Doctor smiled through her tears.

“Actually, it's gong to happen. Some day, in the future.”

“Then, why are you crying ?”

The Doctor pulled on the rope, bringing the weaved basket to the brink of the chasm and she hugged Innocet.

“For the first time in centuries, I remember how much I've missed you.”

Innocet closed her eyes and accepted the hug with no further question. The Doctor's mind was closed with steel doors. 

“I've missed you too” Innocet whispered.

The Doctor smiled and let the anachronism slip in the cracks of the conversation.

“Cousin Innocet, you are brave and wise beyond your years, am I right ?”

“Cousin Glospin says I am a wicked thing from the Dark Times” the girl said with a smug smile.

The Doctor faced Innocet, steady on her feet and put her hands on the girl's shoulder to look at her in the eyes.

“Good. I need you to help me, but it's going to be a bit scary. If you're scared, you can tell me and we'll slow the pace down, okay ?”

Innocet nodded solemnly.

“Okay, Doctor.”

At this time of the day, the streets of Lower Len were rather calm. The twin suns were still high in the sky and most service workers and low rank Time Lords were busying themselves in the secret corridors and offices of the domed beehive. In those precious hours, the popular district belonged to the Outsiders and the Shobogans. Iffalunar was neither and she clung childishly to Owis. The young man was taking his new position of a guide and bodyguard with great pride. He had showed her all his favourite places and they were now heading to the market. Unless they had taken the wrong turn a few streets sooner. Owis stopped at the intersection and frowned.

“Why are we stopping ?” Iffalunar asked nervously. “Are we lost ?”

“No, no” Owis lied “I just need to check something.” 

He looked around, trying to find a clue, any detail he might have memorized, but nothing came to his mind. He usually didn't mind getting lost, but he didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of his new friend.

“Maybe we should follow Omega's Memorial Avenue ?” Iffalunar suggested, looking at a large metal sign hanging above their heads.

“Sure, but we need to find it first.”

“This is Omega's Memorial Avenue” she said confusedly.

“How do you know, I thought you never left the Spires ?”

She giggled and pointed at the sign. Owis realized his mistake and he twisted his hands nervously, his face becoming red with embarrassment. 

“W...Why are every signs written in Circular in this stupid place ?” he stuttered angrily. 

“What's wrong with Circular ?” Iffalunar asked.

“It's a stupid way to write ! There are too many tenses, who thinks with so many tenses ? Past, present and future are enough ! And there are too many ways to write a same thing ! It's like every time you want to say something, it's written differently.”

“Circular Gallifreyan is a telepathic system” Iffalunar explained passionately “Every sentence of it is unique because there are no such things as similar thoughts. But of course we use similar sentences, to make communication easier. The Avenue is called Omega's Memorial, and there are a lot of ways to proceed the idea of a Memorial for the Time Lord known as Omega, but we chose the simplest and most neutral one as a convention.”

Owis had been looking at Iffalunar with vacant eyes for the whole length of her explanation. 

“Middle Gallifreyan is better. At least you can simply pronounce it, and if it becomes too difficult to recognize the words, you just cut them sound by sound and say them aloud.”

Iffalunar nodded as if she was considering his words with respect.

“A phonetic system has its advantages too. You can play with the sounds and the double meanings. It's great for poetry and secret messages. But it's more tedious to read than Circular in everyday life.”

“How would I know ?” Owis said grumpily “I can't read Circular.”

Iffalunar's eyes grew wide.

“You mean no one ever taught you how to read Circular Gallifreyan ?” She shrilled, as if it was the most offensive thing she had ever been told. Owis frowned, but he was getting used to the Time Lady's disproportionate and irrational reactions.

“Innocet tried to teach me a long time ago, but I couldn't remember all the tenses and rotations so one day I stopped wasting my time with her lessons. She was a bit angry, but I think in the end she agreed It wasn't really important. There wasn't any Circular Gallifreyan in the House.”

“But what about your future ?” Iffalunar asked.

“Err... Thinking about the future has always been Innocet's job. She used to note everything in her journal. She said this way, if one day someone discovered the House, they would know what had happened to us. It's all the Doctor's fault if we're here.”

“His fault ? You say that as if it was a bad thing.”

Owis shrugged.

“Maybe it's not all bad. There's a lot of food at the market and the sky is very big. There are too many people, but some of them are nice, like Lady Leela and you. I've never met any new people before.”

Iffalunar nodded.

“Me neither. I see a lot of faces in the Capitol and sometimes, they even need my help at the Archives, otherwise I don't really know anyone but my Cousins.”

“They all live in the Capitol ?”

“More or less. Actually, you could say most of the Ceruleans in this city are my Cousins.”

“Now you say it, I've never seen a Cerulean before you. Where are they all ?”

Iffalunar tilted her head, as if she was wondering herself where her own Chapter had vanished to.

“There's never been a lot of us in the first place” she said. “Even before the Intuitive Revelation, we only made a few Houses. Millennia have passed since, and the three main Chapters have grown in population as well as in power, with Cousins leaving their bloodline and founding New Blood Houses all around Gallifrey.”

“Why didn't you do the same ?”

“I'm not sure, I guess we didn't have the ambition to do so. Conquest isn't really in the blood of Ceruleans, but I can't talk for the Dromeians and Scendeles.” 

“And yet a rival House took over your own.” Owis pointed out. 

Iffalunar hummed in answer, diverting her attention to the busy avenue. Her long hair, blond like summer grass, was floating freely in her back, merely kept by a thin braided crown. She merged with the Outsiders and Shobogans much better than Owis would have guessed. She was contemplating a fruit stall dreamily.

“This is a magenta fruit, and these tiny ones are trumpberries” she said with utmost wonder. “My old Cousin used to put some fresh fruits and plants in his office as ornament.”

Owis took a few coins from his purse and bough a bag of mixed fruit. He wordlessly handed a magenta to Iffalunar. She took it and gave the boy a puzzled look as they continued their way through Omega Memorial Avenue. He didn't notice her hesitation, to busy biting in his own fruit.

“Are you going to eat it unprocessed ?” she asked in mild disgust.

“This is a magenta” he said confusedly “It's good in pies and jam, but it's better fresh.”

She frowned, looking at the fruit as if she had never seen one in her lives.

“You've never bitten in a fresh magenta before ?” Owis asked her.

She shook her head.

“I've only eaten them in cakes and biscuits, and sometimes cocktails.”

She bit in the fruit and squealed in surprise as pinkish red was splashing on her chin and pale blue dress. Owis chuckled and she started laughing too, halfheartedly panicked by the stains on her garment. The young man remembered an etiquette lesson Innocet had taught him centuries ago and he handed her a grubby handkerchief. Iffalunar took it with a disgusted face, still giggling at her own clumsiness.

“You must think I'm an idiot” she said apologetically.

“No, not an idiot ! “Owis defended himself “I just wonder how you can be so old and yet know so little about simple things like that.”

“I guess that's Time Lords for you” she chuckled.

The Doctor helped Innocet back on the solid floor. The girl curtsied, muttering a “My Lady Cardinal” as if she was still in their earlier game. The Doctor squinted, trying to see through the perception filter her sonic screwdriver had detected sooner, but couldn't see a single glance of the adult Gallifreyan woman. The TARDIS was certainly adjusting their perception of reality to its Pilot mindset, and at this moment, Innocet was too far gone, withdrawn inside her most ancient memories like in a deep dream.

“Would you like to show me around ?” the Doctor asked softly “And after that we could say hello to old Satthralope.”

Innocet nodded.

“Sure ! Where do you want to go ?”

“I was thinking about the Library.”

“Come with me !” the young girl prompted with delight.

The Doctor put the ceremony robes and collar off, hanging them on a wooden hat stand , and followed her young older Cousin through the hidden passage. The windows closed themselves behind them, ivy concealing the secret hiding from the world. Back in the tiny yard, Innocet took a large flight of spiraling stairs, then turned in a corridor, and another, never turning back to make sure the Doctor was still behind. 

As she was walking through her childhood home, one of her childhood homes at least, memories came back. Memories of a dark, sinister place that shared little with this luminous fairy tale mansion. It was the same set but a different film, and she was currently wandering through a Ghibli background, sunlight pooled on pastel colored wood and stones like splashes of watercolor. 

“Tell me more about you, Cousin Innocet” the Doctor said “After all, I've never seen you so young. What are you doing all year long in this House far away from the Capitol ?”

“I'm mainly studying to become the next Housekeeper” the girl answered. “Cousin Satthralope was very young when she got married, but she's still robust and healthy, so I don't think I'll have to take her place before centuries. It leaves me time to learn everything I need to know.”

“And what are those things ?”

The Doctor had initiated the conversation to probe Innocet's state of mind and how far she had retreated down her own timeline, but she was now genuinely interested in anything she could learn about Gallifreyan culture. She had been so neglectful about her own people back then, only dreaming of far away places while the familiar world was droning around her. But now it was gone, she felt longing for any scrap of everyday trivia. Some might call it nostalgia, but the Doctor knew better.

“Well, first I need to know the history of Gallifrey and how the Houses were formed back in the Dark Times. I've also learned the basis of living engineering and Data Transfer Computation.”

“This is TARDIS engineering.” the Doctor commented in awe.

“TARDISes, Houses, they all derive from the natural symbiosis between telepathic species native of this planet. In other words, both Time Lords and Houses benefit from it. I'm not really sure about the TARDISes, though.”

“It's impressive you know so much at such a young age.”

Innocet shrugged.

“Housekeeper Satthralope says the hearts are more important than the brains when it comes to leading the House. She wants me to master my psychic powers before anything else. According to her, I am the most gifted individual she ever met in her twelve lives” 

As they crossed the Grand Galleries, the Doctor peeked down the Great Hall. On the other side of the gallery, the great clock of Lungbarrow was showing the course of the stars and planets of the Kasterborous constellation in real time. It was shining and new, its precise mechanism ticking steadily like a peaceful heartbeat.

They entered another corridor, lined with portraits glaring sternly at the two trouble makers. The Doctor found herself looking for some family trait that would ground her to the Lungbarrow bloodline. Something to prove she belonged at least a little, that would make her feel Gallifreyan. 

Finally, Innocet pushed a heavy door and they both found themselves in the Library. Ranks of clear colored datacores aligned on racks, creating a lattice of stained glass. It was beautiful, the Doctor thought. On the walls, leather bound books were carefully organized in an aesthetic forgery of a mess, mirrors and marble busts looking over the priceless treasure. The Time Lady picked a book and found herself a plush armchair. The piece of furniture was over-sized, but peaceful, like a gentle cow. Innocet climbed on a ladder and found herself a spot on a shelf, between two book holders. There was already a cushion there, suggesting it was her selected spot to read.

“What are you reading ?” she asked the Doctor.

“It's a work of fiction, a story of Academy students discovering the corruption of adult business and hypocrisy of non-intervention policies.”

The young girl hummed and curled in her makeshift nest, a heavy volume open on her lap. The Doctor closed her own book and said.

“You told me you would present me to Satthralope earlier. I think we should go now.”

Innocet froze and shook her head.

“I don't think it's a good idea. She'll get upset you spent so much time here without asking properly for Housepitality.”

“Then let's call the Drudges and do things properly.”

“The Drudges are busy at this time of the day. Better not bothering them.”

The Doctor nodded as she started prancing around the room, opening random books she picked on every shelf.

“I really want to see the Ordinal-General, then. He always had a soft spot for me, he won't mind.”

“You haven't been loomed yet” Innocet reminded the Doctor “Uncle Quences cannot have a soft spot for you. Beside, he will ask you a lot of question about the future and you'll be embarrassed because you won't be able to answer them.”

“They maybe I could say hello to other Cousins. You said Almund and Celesia are here.”

“Cousin Almund is boring, and Cousin Celesia will make fun of your un-Gallifreyan clothes. You don't want them to badmouth you in the Capitol before you were even loomed.”

The Doctor sighed. She had seven leather-bound volumes spread on a giant table and was proceeding to a scan with an alien looking device.

“I'm sure Cousin Arkhew wouldn't mind. If I remember correctly, he's always been quite a friendly fellow.”

Innocet nodded.

“Okay, we'll go after him in the evening. He must be working in the gardens right now, he could be anywhere.”

The Doctor stood up and climbed up the ladder, joining Innocet on her shelf. She let her legs swing in the air and leaned her back against the whitewood walls.

“Do you want me to tell you a story ?”

“Oh, yes, please !” Innocet exclaimed.

“You know how we Time Lords tend to dream a bit too loudly ?”

“Yes, shared dreams happen sometimes.”

“I could tell you countless adventures that happened when I was sleeping, sometimes shared with my human friends.”

“You have human friends ?” Innocet asked in awe.

“Sure, humans from planet Earth. Once, I found myself stuck in a dream with a bunch of them, all strangers I had never met before. It was a very convincing dream, nothing outrageously strange. Do you know how I guessed it was a dream ?”

Innocet was staring at her, completely captivated by the tale. 

“Please, tell me !” she hurried her Cousin.

“I asked them to pick up a manual and read the first word. None of them had the same.”

“Strange.”

“Not that much. Humans are not a telepathic specie, so they were all more or less prisoner of their own subjectivity withing the shared general setting. Of course, it wouldn't work with Gallifreyans, since our minds would immediately synchronize. But it's a true statement that humans cannot read in dreams, at least no more than a few lines.”

“Why ?” 

“Their minds aren't big enough to memorize whole books and render them properly. For a Time Lord, it is possible to read a few books in a dream.”

Saying that, the Doctor started picking random books and opening them. She jumped from shelf to shelf doing so, she even scanned the datacores with her sonic.

“Even if it was my dream, I couldn't read all the books present in this Library. And yet every single one I've opened is real.”

Innocet frowned.

“What do you mean ?”

“Remember when I told you it would get a bit scary ?”

“Yes, and now you're scaring me a little” the girl admitted.

“I think I found the loophole.”

“The loophole ?”

The Doctor kneed on the shelf and faced Innocet, putting reassuring hands on her frail shoulders.

“You have such an abundant mind Innocet. Even for an oldblood Gallifreyan. I had no idea such a mind could naturally occur without any Academy training or genetic meddling.”

“What do you mean ?”

“Innocet, have you read all those books ?”

The girl bit her lower lip.

“Maybe ?”

“Not maybe, you have read them, every single one, and your mind recreated them to the last comma in this Library. But there is one thing your mind cannot recreate.”

“What is it ?” she whispered weakly.

“Your Cousins. It is impossible to recreate another person. When you dream about an old friend, or a lost lover, or simply your current coworkers, you only interact with puppets of them. Vaguely humanoid shaped forms with no mind of their own. But you are too smart for that, Innocet. If you had tried to recreate life in your little escapism, you would have noticed the problem. So your mind cheated you and made it impossible for you to ever meet any of them.”

Innocet pushed the Doctor away and backpedaled against the wall.

“You are wrong ! My Cousins are here. Let's meet them, right now !” she squealed, jumping from the shelf. The Doctor gasped, but the girl landed unhurt from the height. The Time Lady followed, taking the ladder for safety as she wasn't sure how the TARDIS would react to her own fall.

“No, Innocet. They're not here. No one is here but us.”

The girl was crying now. The Doctor moved closer to her, slowly, careful not to scare her away.

“Innocet... How long have you been locked up here all alone, with only the memories of all the books you've ever read for company ?”

“Stop talking nonsense, please !” she screamed.

“If all of this is real, please, explain how you did that. How did you read thousands of books in only eight years and a half of existence ?”

“I never said I've read them all !” she spluttered. 

“We both know you did. Another question and I leave you alone.”

“Go on, then leave.” she said coldly.

“I didn't know we had the whole Harry Potter collection in the Library of Lungbarrow. Who brought them here ?”

She took one of the leather-bound volumes she had been scanning on the table, but now Innocet looked at them more closely, she realized they were no leather-bound volumes but hardback editions.

The girl let out a high pitched cry and collapsed on the floor. Now, the solid reality around them was subtly going undone and the Doctor could feel her perceptions flickering. For a few micro-seconds, the Innocet curled on the old carpet had short brown hair and was wearing a delicate Gallifreyan party dress. 

After that, the Doctor felt her head spin and lost consciousness too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much foreshadowing in this chapter ^^.  
> But who's really the bird in the cage ? Innocet, of course, but Owis and Iffalunar are also prisoners of their own ignorance and narrow worlds. Maybe letting their cages collide is the only way to break free ?


	20. Hartmann's Youkai Girl

The Doctor groaned as she struggled to open her eyes. She had let her guards down and the TARDIS had taken her revenge. An eye for an eye, a mental blackout for a mental blackout. 

When she finally got her senses back, she frowned at her surroundings. She had expected to be back to either the console room or Innocet's prison upstairs. The place she had been taken to was completely different to everything she had seen before. It was a perfectly ordinary lounge, normal human habitation of the early 21th Century. She was lying on a square couch covered in white linen. In front of her was a tea table with a glass top. It was littered with fliers promoting several touristic attractions around Kyoto or in the near region, as well as a few neatly piled up magazines and a video game controller. Behind her was a large glass panel window with electric shutters. On the facing wall, a TV console and a few shelves covered with books, craft supplies and a few potted plants. The adjacent wall was decorated with a garland of fairy lights.

The Doctor turned her head to a polished glass door as she heard the muffled sound of a kettle and light foot steps that suggested bare feet. She got up on her feet and realized her own shoes had been removed and she was walking on a plush carpet wearing her socks only. The person behind the door was humming softly with toned down music. The ambient kind, bland and transparent used as a background sound in fancy cafes and DIY tutorials. The silhouette barely visible through polished glass shifted and steps came forward. Finally, the door opened.

“Hello Snail” Innocet greeted her with a serene smile. “I though you would never wake up.” 

The Doctor took a good look at her Cousin from head to toes. She looked somewhat off. Maybe it was the light blue night gown that left her shoulders and most of her legs bare, the small geometric hairpin keeping shoulder length hair behind her left ear, or simply the white mug she was holding in her hands.

“I made you some tea. Come in, please, breakfast is ready.”

The Doctor complied and walked in. The kitchen was an ordinary one, maybe a bit too clean for her taste. Modern furniture, cream colored panels, a perfect lifestyle magazine picture. A nice breakfast was ready on the long and narrow table that made most of the wall. Just above it was the same large window, half obscured by a light fabric shutter. A few succulents and aromatics were floating in the air, neatly potted in geometrical shaped glass planters. Innocet was standing there her mug in the hands. Now she was looking at it, she noticed it had a mouthless cartoon cat on it. She took out her sonic screwdriver and pointed it on various things around, including Innocet herself. The Gallifreyan woman chuckled.

“You're awake, Doctor. It was nice sharing a dream with you like in the old days.” 

“So you are aware we had a dream together. What is this place and what's going on ?”

Innocet pointed toward the counter and the Doctor perched on one of the high stools. She took a sip of tea and bit in a scone. The British breakfast looked out of place among the Japanese food boxes and cooking books aligned on the kitchen counter. Innocet herself was nibbling at a rice cracker. 

“Alice took us home. She could have done it normally if you hadn't knocked her out” she explained with an accusatory glance.

“Sorry. But why knocking you out ?”

“She didn't. I was a bit tired so I dozed off.”

The Doctor frowned.

“You didn't. The dream we had wasn't a dream. We were in the TARDIS and you were physically with me. I think sleepwalking would be a better description of it. You even had a perception filter on you.”

Innocet fumbled with cracker crumbs on the light colored wooden table.

“You are confused, I was in my bed and you on the couch.” 

The Doctor didn't insist. She could feel her Cousin's mental block and she knew it was a deliberate lie. When Innocet was set onto something, nothing could deviate her from the original plan. 

“You didn't tell me where we are.”

“You scanned the place, so you know this is Earth. No trick, no perception filter, just a normal home. To answer your question, we are in Kyoto, 2097”

“Why ?”

“This is where I live. The apartment is a bit outdated, I tried to keep up with human history in chronological order but it's too fast for me.”

The Doctor looked by the window as she processed the information. She hadn't imagine her Cousin having a life of her own on Earth, but if she had left Gallifrey a century or so ago, it made sense. Not everyone was shaped for her own nomad lifestyle. 

“You've settled here ? I thought you would be living in your TARDIS.”

Innocet smiled.

“It's quite like you, projecting your own views on your peers. Some people need a stable life. Do you know how useful a postal address is when you're applying to a job ? Of course not, I guess you always end up using your old tricks and fake identities. When was the last time you used your birth name ?”

The Doctor ignored the last remark and kept her questioning. 

“You have a job ?”

“Not at the moment. I had a few ones, but the Professor's wages are enough for both of us. You could say I'm a housewife, or rather a lonely housekeeper.”

“The Professor ? You mean Alice ?”

“Her current name is Maribel Hartman, but she changes regularly. Humans tend to notice it when someone doesn't age like them, especially when you play the game with no cheat codes.”

“You talk like a gamer.”

“A lonely woman has to keep her days busy.” 

“You didn't make any friends ?”

“I ended up having some. It's easier these days, more androids and aliens living in the daylight. Some of them even know which planet I'm from.”

“How did you survive so long without making waves ?” the Doctor asked in awe.

“You said it yourself, I didn't make waves. I've been a lecturer's assistant, a waitress, a museum guide and other things I forgot.”

The Doctor nodded. The shock wearing off, she wasn't surprised. Innocet had always been adaptive and hard working. If she had managed to keep a relatively normal daily life for 673 years in complete darkness and isolation while everyone around her was dying and losing their minds, she could easily settle on a foreign planet and build herself a comfortable life. Earth wasn't so different from Gallifrey.

“It's funny” she said “we landed in Japan by mistake because we knew you had settled on a small kingdom island with a national preference for tea.”

“I am not settled in the United Kingdom.”

“Yet you have a perfect Sheffield accent and you work for their governmental army.”

“Used to. They cut out our funds. Quite stupid of them, UNIT was doing a decent job.” 

The Doctor took another sip of tea and finished her breakfast in silence. 

“Today is a special day” Innocet said. “It's been just one hundred year since the Professor and I landed here. We had planned to go to the shrine to celebrate this. There is an important summer festival in Kyoto. I was thinking about the coincidence, but maybe it's a surprise from her to invite you.”

“Maybe” the Doctor said.

“I have a silk yukata ready for myself. Do you want to dress yourself too ?”

“It won't be necessary.”

“Maybe a nice hairpin ?”

“If you insist.”

Innocet grinned. 

“Three Gallifreyan ladies on a girls night out.”

Innocet cleared the dishes out and walked to her room.

“If you need a shower, the bathroom is the last door at the left. I'm going to get myself ready. The Professor's lecture ends at noon.”

“Thank you for the Housepitality, Cousin” 

“You're welcome, Snail.”

Innocet disappeared in the corridor and the Doctor immediately started scanning everything she could with the sonic. Her Cousin had told the truth when she said there was no trick. Even her smartphone's GPS was showing the exact location of the apartment on Google Map. 

The normalcy of this place was the oddest thing about it. After a few hours spent there, the Doctor had started noticing little details and personal belongings. Despite being perfectly tidy and clean, it didn't feel as impersonal as she had thought on the first glance. There were picture on the walls of people the Doctor didn't know, a selection of books that made sense with Innocet's personal interests and her companion's teaching position. There were even some well integrated alien tech and objects, books in different languages including Gallifreyan, and a watercolor painting of lush red grass and silver leaves, the Capitol shining in the background like a faint moon crescent. 

The only inconsistent thing was Innocet herself.

The front door opened, sending a rush of adrenaline through the Doctor's spine. Alice entered the living room arms loaded with file holders and grocery bags.

“Good morning, Doctor” she greeted with a bright smile “I am glad to see you on your feet.”

“Very nice of you, considering you're the one who knocked the senses out of me” the Doctor replied with the same shallow politeness.

“I've only returned you the favor. Did Innocet tell you about the summer festival ? You are welcome to come with us, it'll make her so happy. She talks a lot about you, you know.” 

The Doctor nodded, her sonic screwdriver still tightly in hand. She watched the TARDIS solid projection sorting out the grocery in the cupboards, her students essays discarded on the tea table. When she had finished, she opened a box of biscuit sticks and handed it silently to the Doctor. The Time Lady helped herself.

“Now we're face to face, you can tell me the truth. I only want to help the two of you, but I need to know what's going on.”

“Very kind of you, Doctor. You really live up to your reputation”

“What do you want with me, and what have you done to Innocet ?”

“I told you, I want you to be my Pilot and take revenge on the Time Lords.”

“I'm afraid it's too late for that” the Doctor hissed.

“You really overestimate the Master, dear.”

The Doctor gritted her teeth and summoned all her patience not to jump at the other woman's throat and smash her on the glass table. 

“And Innocet ? You really don't care about her, do you ? She shared your life for a full century and she regards you as her closest friend, and yet you treat her like a disposable tool.”

It was Alice's turn to tense, her fists curling with anger. 

“I've touched a sensitive spot” the Doctor provoked her. “If you cared for her, you would do your best to protect her home and Family. But you want to destroy everything out of petty anger. I am right, she's just a tool you're using when it suits you.”

“You know nothing of me, and you know nothing of Innocet. You pretend to be her Family, but where were you when she was suffering in the dark ? Where were you when she was left alone with immense responsibilities on her frail shoulders ? She's too forgiving for her own good, but I am not. I won't let anything or anyone hurt her anymore.”

“Does she know ?”

“Of course not.”

“There is something else you've been lying about.”

Alice shrugged.

“Only one ?” she taunted the Doctor.

“Of course not, but it's probably what makes me the angrier. Her hair. It was short yesterday and now it reaches her shoulders. She thinks she has slept for a few hours, but we both know it's wrong. You've been keeping her in a trance for months. Why ? What's the point ? I thought you did it to sedate her when you wanted to store her away, but apparently she's perfectly content hanging around this city. She has her apartment, her friends, she even had jobs. She doesn't need to be kept in an ivory tower.” 

“Come on, Doctor, I've been stuck for so long on this miserable backwater planet. Entertain me, make a guess.”

“I think you did more than just forcing her to relive the happiest times in her life. You've been storing her consciousness away when you were scanning her mind. Did you partition her brain like a computer ?”

“Interesting theory. Go on.”

“I see a lot of things in this living room. There's a nice painting on the wall, I recognize the view from the Library of Lungbarrow. And this is a book about the forbidden history of the Dark Times, all written by hand. She knows who she is, and where she comes from. And yet, she wasn't wearing her wooden keys, neither her datacore this morning. She would never part herself from them, the House and the Family. You're blocking some memories, or at least you are muting them.”

“Or maybe she just moved on. It's really sad, but they're all dead. Owis, Jobiska, Maljamin, even that scoundrel Rynde. No one's left. It's not something I can do anything about, neither can she.”

“You are a TARDIS, you could simply drop by Gallifrey and take the forty something of them to safety.”

“Not interested. They never did anything good for my Pilot. You can't exactly blame me for abandoning them all, Wormhole.” 

The Doctor took a long breath.

“What do you want with Innocet's mind ? Does she know something classified ? You called me Timeless Child earlier.” 

“Everyone in the known universe calls you by this name, stupid Doctor. Did you think the Master would hold his tongue ?”

“Of course not. But There must be something else. Some thing she knows but forgot. Did the Time Lords mess with her brains ?”

“On a scale from zero to thirteen, how much do you trust your dear friend Romanadvoratrelundar ?” 

The Doctor didn't take the bait. She kept an attentive ear to the corridor, unwilling to say too much in front of Innocet, but she could still hear fumbling noises in the bedroom. A traditional yukata and Japanese make up took time to adjust perfectly, and Innocet was a perfectionist. 

“It's not all, Alice” she whispered. “Something has been bothering me for a long time, and now I've put my finger on it.”

“What is it, Doctor ?”

“You are a TARDIS Type 53. Three generations younger than my original ship. Another creature I've failed.”

Alice frowned at the use of the word “creature” but made no comment.

“She was such a smart ship. I didn't know she had feelings of her own back then, of course, but I don't think it would have changed anything, considering how I've treated my own Family. She was a Type 50. She could talk like a person, using projections like you do. She didn't have a face of her own, she used my friends as avatars. Experiments on humanoid TARDISes only came long after, during the first Time War.”

“What is your point, Time Lord ?” the TARDIS hissed. 

“My point is, you have a lot of agency and independence for a Type 53. That face of yours, is it the face of an actress who's been dead long enough to be forgotten ? It's a bit too perfect, maybe it belongs to a video game character. I bet even your name comes from fiction. It's what people do, but most of the time they aren't subtle enough, but you made sure to chose an anachronistic one.”

“Interesting.”  


“Alice was less subtle of a reference. I saw your black box, it's the same record over and over again. You were left parked on a paradox, a fixed point that keeps being rewritten over and over again, always leading to the same result. It must have been torture for you.”

“If I didn't know you, I'd say you have pity for me.”

The Doctor bit her lower lip and sat on the couch.

“I do. Alice, I really want to help you, but I need to know the whole truth. Who are you and why did you abduct Innocet from Gallifrey ?” 

“I didn't abduct her, I saved her.”

The TARDIS walked to the lounge area and sat on the tea table, facing the Doctor. For the first time, she was showing an earnest face.

“When the Time Lords discarded me, I had never been used. Offered as a present, unwrapped and stored in a closet until I was trashed away for a newer model who probably knew the same fate as me. Little did they know this day was also one of the most important day in the History of Gallifrey.”

“What do you mean ?”

“The only thing my black box ever recorded was you, stealing this Type 40. She had been there for centuries, she was almost dead, but she had taken care of me for the whole day. You took my only friend away and you left me to rot for 673 rotations. Alone in the dark, madness looming over me. The only thing that kept me alive was this record, but even this was unstable, always changing. Sometimes you were alone, sometimes you were with this girl, sometimes there was a Quadrigger with round eyes and a ridiculous timeline no simple Quadrigger should be allowed to have.”

Alice took a deep breath and buried her face in her hands. The Doctor put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. She didn't try to move away. She was trembling slightly, unable to sob. 

“Sometimes, there was this record. It was very grainy. You were stealing me instead.”

“It wasn't me.”

“It was.”

The Doctor sighed.

“Maybe it was a retroactive after effect of me escaping your black box.”

“It wasn't. I've seen your little montage, very clever disguise by the way.”

The Doctor nodded.

“Who knows, maybe I stole you in another life. There are so many timelines, I have more of them than anyone in this universe.”

“I know. I hated you for that. So many lives, so many futures while I had neither of those.”

“How did you meet Innocet ?”

“It's quite a simple story, actually. It's so ridiculously simple and stupid. Your friend Romana is a bold leader, but she's not the brightest one. She tried to reintegrate the Loom core of the House of Lungbarrow without scanning it and editing it first. It's the problem with honest people, they expect everyone to be honest too. Imagine, the truth about your birth, the Other, the Timeless Child, the most dreaded skeleton in Gallifrey's closet unleashed to everyone's eyes. The Matrix immediately defended itself, firewalls going haywire. An Earthquake of maximum amplitude sending its shockwave to every single TARDIS in the universe. Even I got swept by the deafening sound of the panicked Matrix.”

“And Innocet ?”

“The Matrix used her as a proxy. It needed to put all the redacted data somewhere it wouldn't be found. The only available brains in the Matrix access chamber belonged to an un-Gallifreyan savage lady, the Madam President of Gallifrey herself, or an unknown woman with surprising abilities.”

“Leela and Romana” the Doctor whispered affectionately.

“Of course, the Madam President tried to delete the unwanted memories, but everyone knows the only way to do that is to destroy the organic terminal and make sure their mind never reaches the Matrix or any virtual safeguard. I find her pretty weak for a Lord President, she won't probably last long.”

“Romana would never kill an innocent.”

“Good for her. And for the CIA that really wanted to put its hands on the forbidden data. Manipulating them was so easy, but even with a Mind Probe they didn't find anything. Your Cousin really has an adamantine mind.” 

“Maybe she found a way to jettison them for good” the Doctor suggested.

“She didn't, I can feel them, encrypted within Innocet's memories.”

The sobs had turned to cold determination.

“That doesn't explain how you developed such a strong personality.”

“You still see me as a machine, don't you ?”

“You are a machine, but you became a person. Are you some kind of a mind vampire ? When you encountered Innocet's mind, you were barely a sliver of consciousness prisoner of your personal hell. She shone like the brightest light for a few seconds in the dark, but it was enough to engulf yourself and cling to her like an insect. She could probably have blocked you out, but she didn't because it's not how she is. She nurtured you, consciously or not, feeding you with dreams and memories, but also with her hopes and fears. I bet she was reading Alice in Wonderland when you started becoming conscious enough to be called a life form.”

“She was” Alice said with a smile.

“She was probably scared of you, but she also felt sympathy. She was feeling lonely too. She loves her Cousins, but they're not exactly on her level, conversation wise. A TARDIS mind is a lot bigger on the inside. I bet she gave you every thoughts her conscious mind didn't want. And without her openly knowing it, you became her shadow. Innocet and you are two sides of a same coin. The devoted Housekeeper and the solitary adventurer.”

Alice smiled.

“Impressive. Maybe we could be great friends you and I.”

“We could, if you left my Cousin and my people alone.”

“If only you had stolen me all those years ago. We could even have come back for your dear Type 40.”

The Doctor smiled sadly and got up on her feet, looking by the window. The street was busy with unconcerned passerby. Kyoto, London, the Capitol... all of them were the same beehives making anyone feel like a lonely star in the deepest space. Sometimes it felt heavy, but at other times, it was liberating. Even Rassilon himself was nothing more than one of those ant sized people crossing the intersection. 

“I'm ready” a soft voice rang behind her. 

The Doctor turned around and smiled brightly at the sight. Innocet had dressed herself with a delicate silk yukata covered with an intricate pattern of flowers and birds in blue tones. The belt was silvery gray. Her hair was pinned in a fluffy curly bun decorated with jewel flowers. Around her neck, the heavy wooden keys and black datacore were reminding of her position as a Housekeeper.

“I think I want to take care of a goldfish. What do you think, Professor ? Would you win one for me at the festival ?” she said cheerfully, creating a chilling contrast with the heavy atmosphere of the lounge area.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tadam ! After this huge info dump of revelations, we finally head up to the final section of the story !


	21. The Centennial Festival for Magical Girls

“The Gion festival dates back to the year 869. It started as a religious ceremony to appease the gods during a plague. It has been celebrated every year till these days. Each year a young boy is chosen to be a divine messenger. He's paraded through the city during the first procession of floats. Two types of floats are paraded, the 23 yama and 10 hoko. The first parade, known as Yamaboko, was last week, but we can still attend to the second one tomorrow.”

The Doctor smiled as Innocet was reciting her facts. She hadn't changed a bit since their mockery of a childhood. Always showing off her knowledge. No, that was an unfair statement, the Doctor was showing off her knowledge, Innocet was simply sharing it, with all the enthusiasm that occasionally possessed her placid mind.

“You talk like a sightseeing guide” the Doctor joked.

“I've been a sightseeing guide. I am fluent in a few Earth languages and I am always eager to learn about myths and history.”

“This job suits you perfectly, Innocet.”

The Doctor was following carefully as Innocet navigated through the festive streets with the ease of the local she had become. The crowd was dense, mostly tourists gathering around the food and drinks stands or taking pictures in front of the lanterns and miniature shrines. She stopped several times to say a few words to her neighbors, including a family with two children, a nice old lady selling lanterns and candy and a middle aged geiko waiting for the parade with her young apprentice. 

“You know a lot of people” the Doctor noticed.

“When you've lived for a full century at the same place, you end up being part of the local life. You see the old lady at the candy booth ? I've been friend with her grandmother.” Innocet's eyes darkened “Humans are so quickly gone. You barely have time to get to know a young girl in you already bid farewell to an old lady on her death bed. How do you do that, Snail ?”

“Do what ?”

“Heal your hearts.” 

“I don't. I usually don't stay long enough to see them getting old. It's easier to pretend they live for centuries when you move on and never look back.”

Innocet smiled sympathetically.

“I am terribly sorry. It's too much of a price to pay, even for freedom.”

“I believe you, Innocet” the Doctor whispered behind her shoulder.

“About ?”

“About Gallifrey, and our Cousins. I think we can save them all.”

“Of course we can. But not today. This is my centennial Gion Matsuri, and the last one.”

The Doctor nodded and looked around her, enjoying the festivities. The sight wasn't as gorgeous as it would have been a few centuries sooner. She should come back here during Edo Era with her next companion. This decade still had a charm of its own. The mundane modernity sharing a portion of space and time with the immemorial tradition. Innocet stopped to take a picture with a lovely little girl. She looked neither like a tourist, neither like a native. She was a long assimilated foreigner, adorned with a modest kimono and discreet makeover. 

“I really want to watch the Yamaboko parade tomorrow” she informed the Doctor. “Please, stay until then. I've seen the magnificent floats for a hundred times and yet I can't wait to see them again.”

The Doctor nodded. 

“I'll stay as long as you need me, Cousin.”

Innocet smiled and took the Doctor's hand. The Time Lady craned her neck. Alice was nowhere to be seen. It wasn't good, some enemies were better to stay in sight. 

“I'm hungry” Innocet said suddenly “Let's have takoyaki !”

As she talked, she turned to the first ambulant merchant she found and fumbled with her purse. She handed a few coins to the vendor and returned with a paper box of fried octopus, as well as two skewers of pastel colored dango. The Doctor took her share and followed to a nearby square that was miraculously quite deserted. The two women sat on a bench and started eating in silence. 

“Were is Alice ?” the Doctor asked.

“She can't materialize well when there are too many people around. The buzzing of their minds creates interference, and she needs a minimum of space for her calculations. But she's always present in my head.”

“Is she, right now ?”

“I can block her out, if it's what you mean. I'm already doing it. She doesn't know we've left the crowd.”

“Innocet, you are wonderful.”

“Better be safe than sorry. Did you have anything to tell me about ?”

The Doctor nodded, her mouth still full of fried octopus. Innocet chuckled and handed her a paper towel.

“Thank you. I have a few things to tell you, but they can wait. Let's enjoy the festival. Japanese festivals are really something.”

“Every traditional celebration is beautiful” Innocet said affectionately. “Humans live for so short, observing them is like watching an accelerated reconstitution of Gallifrey's history. In less time than you and I have been alive, they went from living in huts to space travel. And yet, they never stopped to celebrate and honor their ancestors traditions.”

“You're wondering how Gallifrey would be if Time Lords hadn't lost their souls to dead rituals. Another thing Rassilon and the old Founders destroyed in their madness.”

“No, Rassilon and the Founders aren't the ones to blame.”

“Who, then ?”

“All of us. Each celebration we decided to skip because we had a busy week, each classic text we stopped teaching at the Academy because it was time lost for astrophysics, each poem we stopped singing because the meaning had been lost in the flows of time.”

The Doctor tilted her head and finally nodded.

“I suppose you're right. Gallifrey could have been a wonderful place, and maybe we gave up to easily.”

“I haven't yet.” Innocet said softly. 

The Doctor rotated her dango skewer in her hand and bit into the first pink colored rice cake pensively. The sky was still clear blue and the voices that came from afar suggested the start of a new event. Innocet was absentmindedly tapping the rhythm of the drums, her serene face hiding much more than the Doctor had guessed yet. The Time Lady had another suspicion she needed to confront Innocet with. For the first time in a while, she could see a glimpse of hope.

“The sky is getting darker.”

“The festival gets more interesting by night” Innocet said with palpable excitation. “There are a few floats in exhibition until the next parade. Do you want to see them from closer ?”

“Why not.”

Outside of the park, the crowd had doubled in volume and the Doctor felt her hearts pounding. She wondered how Innocet could cope with so many thoughts around, there was no way her super sensitive mind wouldn't get parasite noise. In the dying day, the lanterns were awakening like a swarm of fireflies. 

On a stage, artists were performing a dance routine at the sound of the taiko drums. Dressed in white from head to toes, the red of their face painting was popping out. Porcelain perfection of dolls hiding for a few hours the tangible existence of those people. The man leading the dance was a computer engineer, his neighbor the owner of a taxi company. Humans, beautifully ordinary humans playing with the flow of time in a beautiful repetition. Humans performing their own eternity to the face of Death and Time. The Doctor looked at Innocet as she seemed captivated, her head tilted and eyes wide open.

“You really love this place, don't you ?”

“I'm going to miss it a lot” she admitted.

“Then why don't you stay ? I already told you, there is little chance your Cousins survived the Time War.”

Innocet frowned.

“You've talked to the Professor, didn't you ?”

“I did, but it's not what you think. If we manage to send you back on your tracks, and this would be a miracle in itself, you can still come back. Take your whole Family with you and find a shelter on Earth.”

Innocet chuckled.

“What did I say ?” the Doctor asked with mild irritation.

“Nothing, I was just imagining the sheer chaos it would cause.”

“I didn't mean bringing them with you to that small appartment of yours. but you could find a homestead somewhere in the countryside.”

“Why not. Coming back here with Owis and Jobiska” she said dreamily, before coming back to her senses. “What am I thinking about ? I can't abandon Gallifrey. The House is still there, memories dormant underneath the warm soil of Mount Lung, and the Loom needs to be reactivated.”

Behind the stage, the gigantic float known as a hoko was put on display. All red and gold like the proud victory catafalques of the Prydonian heroes. The Doctor wasn't sure how she knew that and she didn't want to know. Innocet's presence was awakening memories she wished she wouldn't be able to call memories at all. Race memories, mixed with something more personal, woven in her DNA.

“Your thoughts are leaking, Snail. You're head is full of reminiscences, long buried under deaths and rebirths, but sooner or later, the tides of time will erode what they've buried.”

The Doctor bent her head humbly, giving her hands to her older, wiser Cousin.

“I don't know who I am. For most of my life I've tried to forget, erasing my own name from history, but now I feel homesick for a place I'm not sure I ever knew.”

“Eight man bound, makes no sound” Innocet chanted softly “You've gone too far, my dearest Cousin. You have lived too much, seen too much, though too many eyes. Your time is shimmering and misted with paradoxes, your name itself has lost its meaning. It's not even a name anymore, it's a title, it's a story told by thousands of choristers scattered in the whole universe, everywhere, anywhere and elsewhere.”

The Doctor lifted her head and noticed a smile on Innocet's bright red lips. 

“But I know who you are. You are my dear Snail, you are the boisterous Theta Sigma worrying poor Kithriarch Quences to his death. You are the Doctor, you bring hope like a miraculous star. And I remember your birth name, the one the Loom whispered before your eyes saw the first ray of sunlight.”

The Doctor grinned and gave a rough hug to Innocet.

“Thank you !”

“What for ?” she asked quite dumbfounded.

“For being kind, and for being so brilliant. I'm sorry to put a end to your last Gion Matsuri, but we need to go to your TARDIS. Now. Can you keep her consciousness at bay long enough to get the full control ?”

“I... I think so.”

“Perfect. Let's go. Now !”

Innocet nodded and dashed through the crowd to a suspiciously neglected shrine. The two women walked through the gate. Innocet turned one last time, looking longingly at the busy street of Kyoto, then she closed the door to this familiar chapter of her life.

“It feels like dying” she whispered. 

The Doctor noticed a tear running on her pale cheek, charcoal black smudging around her tired eyes. The Console room still had the configuration of Alice's astronomy lab. The fake windows displayed a night sky, stars appearing unrealistically bright, and certainly not from this solar system.  
Innocet was standing still, awaiting orders from the Doctor. 

“Please, make yourself comfortable” the Doctor said.

She nodded and took a seat, stiff like a doll. The effort to keep the Professor away from her mind was draining. Soon, the TARDIS consciousness would wake up, and she would punish both Cousins for their foolhardiness.

“Innocet, dear Innocet, do you know how brilliant you are ?” the Doctor exulted.

“Why do you keep repeating that, Snail ?”

“Because I love the sound of this word, brilliant. And because you are. As I suspected, Alice, or the Professor, as you call her, has fragmented your mind, or partitioned it like a computer. She can make you switch from one partition to the other to her will, that's what she kept doing since we met. First you practically begged me to take you back home. She knows the Doctor cannot resist a damsel in distress. Then you were an eight years old loomling, and finally I meet you, the true Innocet, if there's anything as a true Innocet. Lively, brave and already well established on Earth.”

Innocet shook her head.

“I'm sorry, but you are wrong. All those states you describe are me. There is no partition. When I saw you walking in my room I got submerged by emotion and I lost my composure. But now I'm about to leave everything behind, I am terrified. I'm sorry if my thoughts are all over the place, but I can assure you my mind is whole.”

“I know, Alice gives you the illusion you have control over your emotions, but you are smarter than her. So, so much smarter.”

Innocet was staring at the Doctor with slight horror as she seriously put some doubts on her Cousin's sanity. The exultant demeanor of the Time Lady wasn't helping her cause, as she was circling and spinning around the room, her long trench coat billowing in her track. 

“You know what Alice really is, don't you ? Maybe you haven't voiced it out yet, but you've guessed it for years, maybe even decades.”

“Alice is my TARDIS” Innocet replied stubbornly.

“No, she's not. Well, she's part of your TARDIS, but not the whole of it. Think of your ship as an oyster. Alice is a pearl.”

Innocet frowned and the Doctor knew she had lost her. Good, lost was good. Lost people didn't stand long on their certainties.

“At the core of the pearl, there is a grain of sand. A fine particle of dust. In the case of Alice, the particle is made of suffering. Loneliness, fear, all those terrible emotions made this forsaken TARDIS aware of her own existance. She should have been dormant, but the paradox stuck on a loop inside her black box kept her from the blissful slumber she would have deserved. That's what infected your mind, this little spark of suffering. Everything else, every layer of personality comes from you.”

“This is absurd. Snail, you are talking nonsense” Innocet giggled weakly.

“No, I am not, and you know it. How did you survive, for 673 years in the dark ? All your Cousins losing their mind one after another, but yourself never flinching.”

“You have no idea what I've endured in the dark !” she almost cried. “I fought candleday after candleday to keep... to keep...”

“To keep madness at bay” the Doctor concluded. “Oh, Innocet !”

She bent down on her knees and hugged the agitated form of her Cousin. Her beautiful make up had smudged, giving her the decayed face of a melting wax doll.

“You have always been the brightest and bravest of the Family. You kept madness at bay for 673 years, but no one can live through so much pain and trauma without consequences. Alice is more than a TARDIS interface. She is a part of yourself, a part you have been restraining for too long.”

“Please, stop” Innocet whined, clutching her ears in her hands.

“You don't have to be scared of her. You have already outsmarted her, even if your conscious mind doesn't remember it. You gave me clues after clues. First you said you had studied about mental health, but it wasn't for your Cousins, as you assumed. It was to help yourself. Then you told me about Data Transfer Computation. Not something they taught future Housekeepers, if my memories of Gallifrey are accurate. All this time, you were working your way out of here, to take your freedom back. I'm sure you even let her scan your mind on purpose, because you want those data too.”

“Why would I want to know the deadliest secret of Gallifreyan history ?” Innocet sounded offended, as if the whole idea had been sacrilegious.

“Because you are curious. You've always been a clacissist, you wouldn't resist to the final truth about all of those lies and legends. And also because Alice told you terrible things. She might be a construction of your mind, she's still operating as a TARDIS Matrix. You think you can save Gallifrey.”

Innocet blinked and started laughing like a maniac. For a moment, a shadow covered her face and the Doctor sawAlice staring at her through wild amber eyes. Then she stopped giggling and Innocet was back. 

“Snail, listen to yourself ! You have lost your mind.” 

“Maybe. But there is only one way to know, and you need to take control of this ship.”

“How ?”

“First, you have to reconfigurate the control room. Show Alice who holds the keys.”

Innocet nodded, her hand instinctively crawling to the heavy wooden keys around her neck.

“Good. Now close your eyes and think about home. It can be anywhere, Gallifrey, Earth, and imaginary place you read from a book. It doesn't matter, what matters is that it must feel warm.”

Innocet bit her lower lip, completely taken away by the exercise, and the control room started shimmering.

“Good, the Doctor said. Keep thinking about home.” 

The TARDIS made a sound similar to dematerialization, and the two women found themselves in Innocet's kitchen. The sun was getting low on the skyline and golden light was draping the cream furniture in a warm veil. Innocet opened her eyes and looked around, mildly surprised and quite offended by the idea.

“It didn't work.”

“It did. This is your home. The place that makes you feel safe and familiar.”

“The golden light” Innocet said “the golden light makes me feel like home. Let me show you.”

She closed her eyes and established a mental link with the Doctor. “Contact ?” “Contact”.


	22. Flawless Clothing of the Celestials

The mental landscape of Innocet defined itself in the vague shape of her Kyoto apartment. The perspectives were somewhat wrong, stretching in unnatural angles, and details were hard to focus on. The Doctor searched for her Cousin's hand. Innocet complied and gave an apologetic look.

“I am sorry, my mind is under a siege and some basic memories are eluding me right now.”

“That's alright” the Doctor said, squeezing Innocet's hand “You need to concentrate on your feelings rather than accuracy. Your hearts will always know where home is, no matter how it looks like.” 

Innocet winced and the configuration of the room changed, angles becoming sharper. The Doctor couldn't tell how many walls there were, her perceptions switching between the square corners of the Earth flat and hexagonal shapes reminiscent of Gallifrey. 

“Don't strain yourself, Innocet” the Doctor whispered softly “Your mind is creating a dreamscape made up of everything making you feel safe. This place is your true home and it will be your fortress against Alice's assaults.”

Innocet nodded in silence. The Doctor walked around. The room was larger and more open than the real thing. The kitchen was now separated by a counter only and large shelves had appeared where walls had been seconds sooner. The Doctor didn't feel destabilized by the volatile nature of the space around her. She took a book and flickered through it, surprised to find herself unable to read. Words were spread on the pages like a random array of letters, or a foreign language, or rather, the Doctor was losing her ability to decipher English. It was the same thing with the pictures, they were eluding the Doctor's perception center. She only had the global idea the book in her hands was a copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

“She's blocking my memories away” Innocet growled, sweat pearling from her powdered forehead. “This place is not my apartment from the present days, I mean the recent past, but it's not home either.”

“What do you mean, by home ?”

“Gallifrey. I can't remember Gallifrey.” Innocet sounded mildly panicked. “It feels like trying to wake up from a dream.”

“Maybe your home isn't on Gallifrey” the Doctor tried.

“In your dreams, Doctor !” Innocet snapped back.

Suddenly, everything froze, the shimmering details, the non-Euclidean perspectives and the undecipherable and yet familiar words. For a moment, the Doctor wondered if she was still in Innocet's mind or if she was back in the TARDIS console room. The walls had a very defined hexagonal shape now and seemed made of tangible matter, so was the furniture, all rounded angles, plastic and metal. The projection was visual only, but the Doctor could almost smell the metal and dust scent of the Capitol's air. The only source of warmth was a large pool of golden light at the center of a large hexagonal table. It was laced with delicate shadows. The Doctor looked up and noticed a circular window on the ceiling.

“This is Gallifrey” the Doctor said.

“I know. I've found my way” Innocet replied with a proud smile. “Since the configuration of the Tower was eluding me, I've forced myself through a vivid memory even Alice cannot block away. I am sorry, I didn't mean to show you that.”

“Do you want me to leave ?” the Doctor asked politely.

“No, it's nothing. You're still part of the Family, after all.”

The Doctor noticed a hint of bitterness in Innocet's voice and wasn't sure what had prompted it. Soon, She felt something unlocking, as the faucet of time had been opened and the unstoppable flow of the universe was on its way to the tap. Soon, ghost-like shapes appeared. People were the hardest thing to recreate in dreams. 

The Doctor frowned, something was wrong. Those people weren't ghosts and this realization sent a shiver through her spine. It had been an easy mistake, though. Emaciated figures, their features dulled by centuries of bitterness and dreadful privations. All of them were wearing long floating cream white tunics the Doctor suddenly recognized as informal Gallifreyan indoor garments.

“None of them have regenerated yet” Innocet sounded a bit flustered, as if she was showing an intimate scene the Doctor wasn't supposed to see.

The Doctor scrunched her face, old and blurry memories resurfacing from the muddy waters of her brains. 

“I remember them. My Cousins, I rescued them from that impossible well. How long ago ?”

“From this perspective ? A few hours.”

“And I'm already gone” the Doctor said sheepishly.

“It's alright, you left us in good hands” Innocet replied as if she had picked up the Doctor's thoughts, which was very likely the case. 

“I should have been there, you are my Family.”

“We are not different from your other friends on this behalf. You are a shooting star, saving the day and disappearing as you came, out of nowhere. Don't worry yourself too much, they're fine, at least they were last time I saw them.”

Innocet was smiling, warmth and serenity radiating from her. Around them, the figures were minding their own business, repeating an echo from the past. 

“You've found your way home, Innocet.” 

Innocet nodded, a tear running down her cheeks.

“I know. Look at her” she said, pointing to one of the ghosts. The Doctor noticed this one looked more lively than the other, she was talking to the Capitol staff and shepherding her zombie-like Cousins around the facility. She had short and scruffy brown hair and heavy keys were dangling around her neck.

“It should have been me. I was the Kithriarch of the House of Lungbarrow.”

“You still are, Snail. It's not too late.”

“It is” the Doctor whispered “I should have been there when you all needed me.”

“There is no use in welling tears and regrets” Innocet chastised her “If you really wanted to assume your inheritance you would follow me back, but I know you won't. We've learned to do without you. If you ever want to pay us a visit, you'll always be welcome.”

“Not sure about that”

Ghost-Innocet had her eyes stuck to the dark gold window, staring at the sky as if it would swallow her whole.

“I hated this place, back then. How would I've guessed it would become the home I'm longing for ?”

“What is this place ?”

Innocet made a large gesture encompassing the whole common room.

“Defunct Security Tower, top level of a high spire, at the heart of the Citadel. This place used to be living quarters for a squadron of Chancellery Guards.”

“It sounds very nice” the Doctor said.

“I know” Innocet admitted guiltily. “President Romana has been very generous with us.”

“It's not what I meant.”

“I know, I still feel ungrateful.”

“I hated it too. The Capitol, this mighty Citadel of boredom.”

Innocet guided the Doctor closer to her ghost self, at the end of the room. 

“It's not as bad as I expected. I like Lower Len, and some Time Lords are pleasant company. Just avoid the scarlet and orange robes.”

The Doctor and Innocet exchanged a complicit smirk, like two Academy student gossiping about their venerable teachers whereabouts. The Doctor walked past the ugliest chair she had ever seen since the end of the 70s to the remote end of the hall. A mishmash of mismatched armchairs and couches were assembled around a fake fireplace. Gallifreyan interior design in all its glory.

It's in this somewhat homely corner that the most interesting figures had flocked. Ghost-Innocet was rummaging through a few books written in Modern Gallifreyan, probably left there by the previous occupants of the Tower, and rearranged them on the shelves by the electricity powered hearth. She looked feverish and exhausted, each gesture slow and painful. 

In one of the ugly armchairs, a black, inflatable one, a tiny old lady the Doctor had mistaken for a doll in a pile of silky cream rags. Her pale, veiled eyes were staring right through the Doctor, emptily, but it was still disturbing enough for the Time Lady to move a bit on her left, closer to the real Innocet, who was staring alternatively at her own reflection and the Cousins by the fireplace. 

“Why am I like this ?” she muttered faintly. “I should be helping. I thought I was helping.”

“You were exhausted. You had spent so long in the dark, getting back to the world above must have felt so terrifying.” the Doctor said kindly.

“I know. But it wasn't the first time I was leaving the House.”

The Doctor frowned confusedly and followed her look to another couch where she noticed a young man curled in a ball. He looked vaguely familiar too, but the Doctor couldn't put a name on his face. Innocet made a step towards him and cringed when she realized he couldn't see her.

“Owis was only two years old when it all started. He must have felt so lost and so scared in this wide and unknown place.”

“You were lost and scared too, Innocet” the Doctor reminded her, a bit more sternly.

Suddenly, Ghost-Innocet let her arm fall limply, and her eyes left the stack of books. She stared at the two dreamers, her eyes seeing through them like thin air. She was looking at the old lady and and carried herself to the armchair. She took a red cape from a pile and covered the tiny woman's frail shoulders, whispering something that didn't reach the Doctor's ears. Real-Innocet was standing next to the young man, her hand extended to touch him, but something was keeping her from trying. The fear of passing through him, probably. 

“They are ghosts” the Doctor reminded her “we are the only real people here.”

“I know, Snail. But it feels the other way around. They are still in the Tower, somewhere far away, and maybe I didn't come back. Maybe I belong to the past.”

“Maybe they belong to your past” the Doctor corrected.

“It's the same thing.”

“It isn't. You are alive, Innocet, you belong to your own present.”

“Whatever. If I'm not with my Family, I belong nowhere. This century I spent on Earth didn't exist, it was nothing but an extended gap between the second I left and the second I'm back home.”

The Doctor emitted a non-concomitant sound but didn't comment. Ghost-Innocet had hovered to her younger Cousin and was sitting on the couch next to him. She put a hand on his shoulder. He unfolded a little, like a shy snail, and the Doctor finally saw his face properly. He wasn't exactly fat, but quite chubby compared to the other ghosts. His eyes were different too, they seemed alive. Whatever had happened to them had been spared to him, maybe because he had been a very young child when the House had buried itself, too small to remember anything prior to the Darkness. No, not small, the Doctor reminded herself how the Loom produced fully formed adult. Or at least children in fully formed bodies. Because the years spent underground seemed to have had little effect on the young man, he still had the eyes of a lost child. 

Ghost-Innocet was humming to him, her hand playing in his brown curls. He came closer and she wrapped an arm around him. They both closed their eyes and she kept humming for a while until she fell silent, her breast rising and falling slowly. Real-Innocet stared at them tears running down her cheeks. If her mind had possessed the faculty to burn holes through space and time, she would have ripped her way through the fabric of reality to this very moment and punched her Ghost self to take her place. 

“That's it !” the Doctor exclaimed. “Right now you are on a war path. You need to focus on that primal rage if you want to fight Alice. Think about home, about your Cousins. What's their names ? The old lady and the boy.”

“Jobiska and Owis.”

“Think about Jobiska and Owis, and sail through the Vortex like their lives depend on it.”

Innocet nodded and the dream dissipated around them like volutes of smoke.

They were standing in a vast hexagonal room. The walls were a pale shade of lilac and cream, and fairy lights were sparkling on them like tiny constellations between pale wood bookshelves covered in a mix of ancient leather-bound encyclopedias and paperback fantasy novels. On a platform below the galleries, illuminated by golden light latticed with Circular Gallifreyan poetry, the TARDIS console was made of living white wood, like a fairy tale stump. The pilot seat was a delicate basket suspended to the roof. 

“It is beautiful” the Doctor said.

“It is home” Innocet replied with a large smile.


	23. Deaf to all but the Song

The Doctor stood still in a corner as she was watching Innocet fumble with the controls. Was it how it looked like from the outside ?  
When she was done with her exploration of the different panels and pale wood levers, Innocet sat dramatically in her suspended basket. The Doctor smiled, as she was reminded of their shared dream of the previous night.

“It's nice to be the captain of this ship. I might get used to it” she said with a playful smile.

“How do you feel ?” the Doctor asked “Do you think you can keep her at bay for a moment ?”

Innocet nodded.

“I think I can, but I fear the moment I'll release her from the dark.”

The Doctor frownd and took a few steps toward her Cousin, brandishing her sonic screwdriver on her chest. It emitted a high pitched sound and the Doctor hummed.

“It seems I was right after all. I like being right.”

“Can you explain, please ?”

The Doctor came closer and extended a hand to touch the datacore with the tip of her index finger. The thing was pulsating, firmly encased in it delicate golden frame.

“A present from Romana, you said ?”

“Lady Leela purchased the frame from her favourite craftsman in Middle Town” Innocet explained proudly.

The Doctor smiled at the evocation of Leela. Somewhere, back in time, her friends were still alive. It was both a comforting and depressing truth, as she was wandering alone through the universe.

“This datacore contains my biodata” the Doctor revealed.

“Well, of course. It contains the biodata of every single Cousin born from the Loom of Lungbarrow since the Intuitive Revelation.”

“No, I mean, it contains my original biodata, unaltered by the Time War and all the paradoxes and changes I've caused to the universe, and by extension to my own time stream.”

Innocet's eyes grew wide.

“Said like this, it sounds quite scary. I could think you are some kind of Zagreus.”

“If it makes you feel better, I am definitively not “some kind of Zagreus”. The truth is a lot scarier actually.”

“I don't want to know” Innocet deadpanned. “Not right now anyway, Maybe later, when I don't have a wicked creature scratching inside my mind.”

The Doctor's face contorted in a shameful expression and Innocet saw a glimpse of a certain young boy's face. She took the datacore from its chain and span it between her finger as if she was hoping to read some clues on its smooth obsidian black surface.

“You think the Matrix opened itself to me because it recognized your biodata ?”

“It's a possibility. But I don't think that would be enough to confuse the Matrix. It knew what it was doing using you as a proxy. On the other hand, I think it might fool a deluded TARDIS.”

“You mean Alice ?”

“I wouldn't be surprised if she had first assumed you were me. It would explain how stubborn she is about her so-called memory.”

“So she might have foreseen I would steal her some day, but mistook me for the infamous Doctor ?”

“Why not” the Doctor admitted “Don't we all do that ? It's called a cognitive bias, the brain only sees what it's looking for. From a TARDIS perception, you must have appeared as a strange cluster of Time Lords signatures.”

“You make it sound like I am the cryptid” Innocet said with a smile.

“Maybe you are. Aren't there legends about a Voodoo Priest of Lungbarrow ?”

“If there are, I would definitively put my bet on you, Cousin.”

“Please, have a little faith, Innocet” the Doctor said with an offended gasp.

Both Cousins burst in a childlike laugh, their minds touching in a warm embrace that felt like holding hands on a deserted beach by a golden autumn evening. The silent companionship of loomlings of a close age.

The Doctor held her hand and Innocet laid the datacore in the extended palm. The Doctor nodded gratefully and gave a closer look to the item. A pre-war Gallifreyan datacube. A perfectly outdated piece of technology by her own timeline. It almost made her feel nostalgic as she wondered if Time Lords of Innocet's time were already using Circular Gallifreyan instead of the standard Middle Gallifreyan from her memories. Maybe they were, there was no way to know what retroactive changes had been brought by the War. She had definitively seen Circular handwriting in her Cousin's personal notes on Earth.

“This datacore might be the key to save Gallifrey.”

Innocet tilted her head.

“Really ?”

The Doctor gave it back and started pacing around the pale cream and lilac console room.

“Last time I went to Gallifrey, I tried to access classified files. Well, the Master tried to access those classified files to show them to me. But none of us was able to pass through the encrypted firewalls. All we saw was the censored 'official' version” she said, making brackets in the air with her fingers. “I thought, maybe these files weren't meant to be accessed by me. But it doesn't make sense. If Tecteun didn't keep those files for me, then for whom ?”

“Tecteun ?” Innocet asked.

“Long story.”

Innocet bowed her head and let the Doctor finish her monologue.

“But what if the Matrix had failed to identify me because my biodata got too altered by the centuries of me messing around the Vortex ?”

“It's a possibility” Innocet encouraged her Cousin while she had no idea what all that rambling was about.

“Here you have my pure, unaltered biodata. I thought Satthralope had made sure I had been severed from the Loom.”

“You know Quences would never have allowed that.”

The Doctor gave a wild hug to Innocet who stood a bit dumbfounded.

“Thank you. To you and to the House.”

“You're welcome” Innocet muttered.

“I need to read the contents of this datacore and extract my biodata.”

Innocet shook her head.

“I wouldn't do this from my TARDIS” she whispered “I cannot vouch for our safety when Alice is still lurking in each circuit.”

The Doctor nodded and started fumbling with the levers. Innocet stared at her in disbelief, disapproval all over her face.

“Sorry” she mumbled sheepishly “the habit of driving”

“We need to use your TARDIS. Were did you park it ?”

“London, observatory of Greenwich”

Innocet grinned and pushed a few buttons before swinging a branch shaped lever.

“Wonderful ! I've always wanted to visit London !”

The TARDIS landed silently on the damp morning grass. The Doctor stepped out and noticed the ship had taken the form of an old red telephone booth repurposed as a public library. Charming and quaint as she could have expected. She was soon followed by Innocet who gave an appreciative look to the disguise.

“Alice has always excellent tastes”

The Doctor pointed to a nearby grove.

“My TARDIS is just over there.”

Innocet wrapped a shawl tighter on her shoulders and suddenly realised he was still wearing her yukata. In comparison, the Doctor looked perfectly unremarkable.

“I suppose we don't have time for the British Museum” she tried half jokingly.

“I am terribly sorry, but we need to act quickly, before Alice wakes up” the Doctor said “And how on Earth did you not visit London before when you have a TARDIS of you own ?”

“You know how it is. Travel yesterday and travel tomorrow, but never travel today.”

“That sounds awfully Time Lordy of you, Innocet.”

“Oh, shut up, Snail !”

The two women reached the blue Police Box and the Doctor opened it. She extended her arms, showing off her precious time machine. Innocet bowed in appreciation.

“You're redecorated ? I like it” she said with a grin.

The Doctor climbed the low steps and walked straight to the console. Innocet followed in silence.

" Your ship loves you dearly " she almost whispered as she was lingering by the crystal pillars, a hand laying widespread on the warm material.

" She's saved my life more than once " the Doctor conceded.

" No, it's more than that. The bond you two share would turn any respectable Housekeeper green of jealousy. Please, show her a little gratitude when you have time. "

" I promise I won't forget. " the Doctor said softly.

She took the datacore and put it in a small square cavity. A low purr started vibrating all around the console room.

" It's trying to read the contents " the Doctor explained cheerfully. " Soon I'll finally know who I am ! "

" No, you'll know who you were, a long time ago. " Innocet corrected. " Right now you are the Doctor, and it's all that matters. "

Iffalunar pinned a last paper on the wall and took a few steps back, admiring her work with great satisfaction. As she was smiling excitably at Owis, a fledershrew flew it's way through the room and swept away the abridged rules of the unhappened-past and half of the basic reading keys.

"Blimey !" she exclaimed "I had put them in index order !"

The young man handed a paper to her, at this point it was too late to tell her he didn't mind being illiterate that much. Beside, if it gave him an occasion to meet Iffalunar on a regular basis, he could probably endure the classes. The way she talked about orbital points, reading keys and isometric inclinations almost made it interesting.

"You see, the key to learn Circular is to get rid of everything you know about written language. And maybe about language as a whole. Dear Rassilon, I can't believe you've been unable to read Circular for so long ? How do you even think ? With sounds ?"

She sounded properly appalled. Owis hummed, thinking way too hard on a problem beyond is capacities.

"I guess I think with words, like everyone."

"No way !" Iffalunar shrieked "It must take you ages to make complex chronometric calculations, or to remember where you've archived an information !"

"I don't have to do that very often" he retorted, as he had no idea what she was even talking about.

"With a good knowledge of Circular, everything will become so much easier for you!"

"But what if I can never read them ?" Owis asked, half panicked.

"Hmm, I guess you'll be plagued with the terrible curse of asking your direction to strangers for the rest of your life" Iffalunar said with a cheeky grin.

Owis was less than convinced, but he said nothing and patiently waited for his first lesson to be over. Maybe he would even leave the pages pinned on his wall when Iffalunar would be gone. He had no idea how to put them back in place for next time, and the Time Lady had a nice handwriting.

"You'll remember ? To understand a glyph, you must identify its reading key, and also its number of rotations. It's quite simple when you get the gist."

Owis pointed at a relatively simple glyph.

"This one says 'cat '"

"Yes ! This is a 'cat' key !" Iffalunar exclaimed proudly "But actually, it means 'Owis'. Since I didn't know how to write your name, I used a 'cat' key as a base. Names usually get longer with age and experience, but yours is still quite short. It has a pronunciation that can be a wordplay with the beginning of 'cat'. Also, you remind me of a cat."

"Why ?"

"Because you're not scared of leaving the Tower, and you always do what you want."

"Is it how you see me ?" Owis asked, flattered by the description.

"Sure ! I've never met anyone like you before, except for the cats. Well, I've never met any cat, but I've read a lot about them."

"And how do you write your name ?"

Iffalunar pointed to a series of intertwined circles.

"My reading key is 'moon'. Pazithi Gallifreya, to be exact. My Cousins used to call me Luna. It's an old word that means Moon, in far away galaxies."

" What does the full sentence means ?"

"Ta da ! It's a surprise !" she winked.

Owis puffed his cheeks and Iffalunar giggled.

"Well, that was the basis of Circular for you. Now you owe me a favour !" she added with a sly smile.

Owis felt is hearts sinks. Of course Iffalunar wanted some sort of payment for her services, but nothing came to his mind. With the amount of time she had taken for this lesson alone, he was in debt for the rest of his first generation.

"What do you want ?" he asked quite defiantly.

Iffalunar danced on her feet, miming an intense reflection when the gleam in her eyes suggested she already had the answer.

"You know, I've never seen Pazithi Gallifreya with my bare eyes before. So next time we see each other, I'd like you to take me outside and show me the stars !"

"Is that all ?" Owis asked, dumbfounded.

"That's a lot from me to ask !" Iffalunar excused herself.

"No, that's okay. I've never seen the stars either."

Owis and Iffalunar crooked their finger to this debt, and to the beginning of a new everlasting friendship.

The Doctor and Innocet stared at each other in silence, none of them daring to utter a sound as the TARDIS was purring and growling. The sound became deafening for few seconds, forcing the two women to take a good grip on the pillars. Then it stopped abruptly. The warm, orange glow of the crystals flickered and came back to normal. The Doctor peered to the screen and swore under her breath.

"What's going on ?" Innocet inquired nervously.

"The TARDIS cannot read the content of the datacore. It's encrypted."

"So we've done all of this for nothing ? We can't even access your biodata."

The Doctor shook her head.

"I know a solution, but you're not going to like it."

Innocet frowned.

"What is it ?"

"I need to borrow the datacore."

"Over my dead body" Innocet retorted.

"I knew you would say that. I promise I'll return it to you as soon as I'm done."

"In 500 years ? 1000 years ? I don't have all this time."

"Okay, fair enough » the Doctor surrendered. « Then I'll have to take you with me."

"I'll follow you to the end of the world" Innocet said jokingly.

"Good, because it's precisely where we are going !"


	24. Natural History of the Childlike Duo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for implied miscarriage or loss of a child.

The TARDIS wharf was desert when a wvorping noise broke the silence. However, no one was alerted, as all the guards had mysteriously been called elsewhere, for a meeting, an escort or an emergency exercise. It was quite convenient for the two figures who emerged from the newly arrived ship.

Two people hidden by large, shapeless cloaks, one black, the other ivory. Their faces were hidden by oversized hoods falling upon their eyes.

« I shouldn't have come » said Black Cloak.

« What's done is done » replied Ivory Cloak. « Overall it didn't go that bad. »

Ivory Cloak shrugged. Something was wrong, but neither of them could pinpoint what. 

« But what if we've altered this world's reality ? »

« We do that every day, altering reality. Everytime we wake up, take decisions even when we decide to take no decision at all. » Ivory Cloak scolded the other one.

« You know what I mean » Black Cloak sulked. « I feel like I am forgetting something. Something very important. »

« Jet-lag. You'll get use to it. Now go to sleep, I promise you won't even remember this feeling tomorrow. »

The two travelers wished each other a good night and parted their way. Ivory was right, Black thought. It was only jet-lag. 

« Are you ready ! » the cheerful voice of Iffalunar rang like a silver bell through the Hexagonal Hall. 

« Yeah, I'm coming » Owis replied as he threw a few more things in his threadbare carpet bag.

The Time Lady was standing by the door, all dressed up for the expedition. She had chosen her warmest cape, made of dark blue velvet. Her hair was braided in a crown on the top of her head. She was fidgeting like a young Loomling on Otherstide morning. Owis noticed she was also carrying a small bag.

« I took my telescope ! » she explained excitedly when Owis glanced her a quizzical look. 

She giggled and took Owis's hand in her own, silk gloves preventing their skin to touch. The young man had been told Time Lords were extremely sensitive to telepathic touch. So was Innocet, even if she wasn't a Time Lady. Owis himself was better at communicating with animals than people. 

« Shh » she hushed, as if she hadn't been the one making all the ruckus by herself « Now we have to be very careful. »

« Why ? » Owis asked « Is it forbidden to live the Capitol by night ? »

Iffalunar frowned.

« I don't think so, but no one has ever done that. I suppose my Cousins would be angry if they knew. »

Owis nodded in understanding and guided Iffalunar to the service door. This way, their little escape would be more discreet. 

The corridor to Sector 6 was deserted, except for a few guards who didn't bat an eyes. After all, it wasn't a crime for two adult Time Lords to walk at night. Owis still felt uncomfortable after what had happened to Innocet. He started wondering if it was really a good idea to disappear without telling anyone. With Iffalunar's excitement, he had forgotten to be careful. On the other hand, he didn't have anyone to tell, and if he disappeared, he wasn't sure anyone would even notice or care. 

Iffalunar was more important, and if they weren't back tomorrow, her Cousins would probably send the Guards on her traces.

The transmat booth was unguarded, a little miracle Owis couldn't explain. Using the booth was easy, it was the return that worried him. He had the transduction ring secured in his pocket. He wasn't really proud to have stolen it in Innocet's room, but he knew she would forgive him. She always forgave him for everything. 

As they were about to open the door, the booth glowed blue. Owis and Iffalunar froze on their feet, unable to do anything.

A tall, black cloaked figure emerged.

The ominous silhouette noticed the two runaway and froze too.

« Owis ? » a female voice asked in dismay « What on Gallifrey are you doing here ? And is this Lady Iffalunar with you ? »

Iffalunar squealed in terror, but Owis's face lightened up when he picked up the voice.

« Lady Leela ? »

The cloaked figure sighed and removed her heavy hood, revealing Leela's worn out face. She looked exhausted and salty traces that looked like remnants of tears were marbling her cheeks.

« I... please, don't tell anyone. » she whispered « No one must know I was out tonight. »

« Same for us. » Owis answered.

« Then it will be our secret » the Savateen woman chuckled with the ghost of a smile.

« Are you okay, my Lady ? » Iffalunar asked shyly.

« Yes, thank you, Lady Iffalunar. I'd ask you where you two are going, but I suppose it's none of my business. »

« We're going to watch the stars » Owis explained « Do you want to join us ? »

Leela let out a weak laugh. Gallifreyans... they were something else. 

« Maybe another time. »

« If you change your mind, we're be in the old garden on Mount Lung slope » Iffalunar revealed.

« Good choice, the sky is clearer in the Southern regions. » Leela approved « Have fun and be careful. »

She bowed her head and disappeared in the corridor. 

Owis and Iffalunar exchanged a glance. The Time Lady watched thoughtfully in the direction Leela had disappeared to. 

« I hope she will be alright. »

Owis frowned.

« What do you mean ? She looked perfectly fine. »

Iffalunar shook her head.

« You really didn't pay any attention ? This poor woman was a complete mess. I hope it's not too serious. I've heard she's the President's personal assassin. » she added in a conspiratorial whisper.

« She's not » Owis corrected « She's only her friend, and unofficial bodyguard. The President's personal assassin is Cardinal Braxiatel. At least it's what Cousin Rynde told me. » 

Iffalunar gasped in horror.

« Now you're mentioning it, there was something strange about Lady Leela » Owis said out of the blue. « She smelled like vanilla. »

Iffalunar blinked confusedly.

« Vanilla ? You mean artron energy ? »

« No, vanilla » Owis insisted. « I don't know what artron energy smells like, but I am pretty sure it was vanilla. Why would she smell like artron energy ? Isn't it the thing you find in the Time Vortex ? »

« Maybe she was in the Time Vortex, doing something forbidden. » Iffalunar suggested.

« But why vanilla ? »

Iffalunar's eyes grew wide and she hit her forehead with the palm of her hand.

« Of course ! Madam President Romana always smells like vanilla. Owis, you are a genius. »

« Humpht ? » Owis grunted, before his eyes grew wide too « She was doing illegal stuff in the Vortex with the President ! » 

« Like a secret mission away from Gallifrey ? »

Owis and Iffalunar exchanged a look, admiration meeting disapproval. 

Leela crept silently in her room, careful not to wake Andred up. The Time Lord was still soundly asleep, as if nothing had happened. Really, Romana was good at piloting a TARDIS. Looking at the bedside alarm clock, Leela noticed less than hour had passed since she had left, months ago. 

So many things had happened in the E-Space, and yet Leela could barely remember any of it. Romana had tried to explain her why, but the explanation itself was eluding her mind. It had something to do with a raw crack, the Vortex leaking from it in slow tides. She would have totally forgotten tomorrow. Forgotten those past months (maybe a year?) spent fighting for a little asteroid, for new allies, for justice, for... for what ? She would even have forgotten going on a mission at all.

Tomorrow, she would wake up like any other morning and she would kiss Andred goodbye, waiting for him to come back home. Tomorrow, the lingering sadness would be less than an afterthought.

But for now, Leela curled on herself, holding herself in a tight embrace, and cried silently, mourning a tragedy she couldn't even remember. Tomorrow she would have forgotten. Tomorrow...

Iffalunar took a deep breath of cold, fresh air as stepped carefully on the grass. She turned to Owis, a wild smile playing on her face.

« The sky is so bright ! » she gushed, squinting her eyes in the silvery twilight. 

The mountain was already shrouded in shadows. The sky above their head was still coppery at the horizon, but soon it would be dark. 

« Maybe we should switch on the lamps » she suggested timidly.

Owis nodded and fumbled in his bag for an electric torch. Meanwhile, Iffalunar was looking at the sky, holding her cape tight on her shoulders. After a while, she sat down in the grass. Owis joined her. Above them, the endless immensity of the universe. Beautiful, intoxicating, and a bit intimidating.

« I've wanted to see the stars all my life » she confessed.

« Then why didn't you just use the transmat booth ? It doesn't seem very hard to leave the Capitol. » Owis asked in dismay.

The Time Lady shrugged.

« I just never thought about it before. I am only a librarian, I don't really have any business outside. »

She leaned backward and let herself spread on the ground, laughing at the madness of the situation. The short, thick grass was itching, but it felt alive. Everything here felt alive. She smiled as she imagined her Cousins sleeping in their beds or reading on their datapads. They all talked about protecting Mother Gallifrey, but how many of them had lied in the grass at least once in their lives ? 

« It's a bit scary » Owis admitted.

« Being outside ? »

The young man nodded.

« The sky is so huge, so is the mountain, and the forest. »

« Yes, it makes us feel insignificant » Iffalunar said.

« And who knows what might attack us ? »

Iffalunar almost jumped in a sitting position.

« Attack us ? »

« There are probably pigbears in the forest. »

Iffalunar let out a little yelp and clung to Owis.

« Are you scared ? » he asked « We can still go back. »

She shook her head.

« No, I want to see Pithizi Gallifreya. »

She opened her little bag and produced a large telescope. She played with the settings for a while, and when she was done, the sky was already sprinkled with stars.

« Ta da ! » 

Owis peeked inside the telescope and gasped. Iffalunar giggled smugly. 

« Gallifrey... such a small speck of dust in the whole universe. And yet, look at our people, traveling through space and time. Building and destroying empires. Do you think it's a good thing ? »

Owis frowned.

« What do you mean ? »

« Time Lords have so much power, and yet we are so small and meaningless in the great order of the universe. »

« Dunno »

Iffalunar sighed and pointed to the North.

« Pithizi Gallifreya. Back in the Old Time, she was worshiped as a goddess. »

The cold wind of the night was playing in Iffalunar's cape as she stood still on the slopping moor. She was a dark silhouette against the pale moonlight. 

« I don't like it » she finally said, as if Owis had asked her a question.

« What do you don't like ? » the boy replied in confusion.

She frowned, and made a large gesture.

« The thing in the air. »

« What thing ? »

« You know, that tingle. »

« You mean the cold ? »

Iffalunar shook her head, looking more and more distressed.

« Why didn't I noticed sooner ? » she asked.

« Noticed what ? » 

Owis was getting increasingly worried by Iffalunar's sudden rambling.

« Something's wrong with time ! Can't you feel it ? » she pleaded, wide eyed.

« No, I don't. »

Iffalunar collapsed on the floor and hugged her knees.

« Something is coming. Something strange and ominous. »

« Maybe you are just scared of the dark ? » Owis suggested.

She shook her head, then suddenly stopped, realization hitting her.

« Of course you can't feel it. You never went to the Academy. You were never exposed to the Vortex, never received the Rassilon Imprematur. »

She jumped on her feet and started pacing around.

« You also said you didn't feel anything wrong with Lady Leela. »

Owis made a face as he was growing impatient.

« So, what's going on ? »

« Something happened, or is going to happen not far away from here. Something to do with the Vortex and timelines unraveling. »


	25. Frozen Capital of Eternity

The Doctor didn't utter a single word for the whole journey, and the silence was unnerving Innocet more than she would have admitted. A silent Doctor was probably the most terrifying omen in the known universe.

« So, you won't tell me where we are going ? » she asked tentatively.

The Doctor let out a noncommittal throat groan.

« You don't need to know. »

« Oh, yes I do ! » Innocet replied a but more curtly than she had intended.

The Doctor shook her head, still avoiding her Cousin's sharp stare that started to burn a hole in her back.

« I... We've arrived » she pointed out flatly. 

Innocet took a few step in her direction and extended her hand to touch her Cousin's shoulder, then decided otherwise. The Doctor turned around, her face unreadable, but shrouded in darkness. Innocet didn't know those bright green eyes could be so cold. Maybe she hadn't changed that much despite that monstrous body count of hers.

« Please, give me the core. »

« Never »

The Doctor extended a hand.

« Innocet, for the sake of Gallifrey, give me this data core. »

Her stare was piercing and her voice hard as stone. Innocet had to fight back her primal reflex to give the inestimable object.

« I'm coming with you. Wherever this data core goes, I go too. »

« Please, be sensible » the Doctor pleaded, teary mist replacing the cold daggers.

Was it what it felt like to be an enemy of the Doctor ?

« I promise I won't leave you » she finally said, as if it was her last card to play in the bargain.

« I know you won't. I am in your ship and you'd rather die than abandon her. »

Innocet's words were cold and bitter, and she immediately regretted them. The Doctor sighed in defeat.

« You won. I am so sorry. »

She jumped from the low console plinth and navigated lightly on the glowing honeycomb tiles of the floor until she had reached the door. Innocet followed, apprehension piling up inside her chest.

The doors opened, revealing the dry, warm air of Gallifreyan summer. The air that smelled like home. Innocet froze on her feet and the Doctor reached for her arm.

« It's all that's left of the Capitol » she said unhelpfully.

« It's gone » Innocet intoned. « The Tower is gone. »

« I'm going to materialize into the Panopticon. » the Doctor explained. « Maybe I shouldn't have show you that, but I had no idea how to explain... »

« It's alright. Thank you for showing me the truth. »

The TARDIS wheezed and wvorped itself out and into existence, disturbing the perfectly still air of the mainly untouched remnants of the Panopticon. The Doctor had visited the Titanic's wreckage, once. A coordinate error that had sent her on the right ship, on the wrong year. The once mighty Citadel of the Time Lords had the same haunted, and yet strangely beautiful atmosphere. Innocet walked carefully out of the TARDIS and started a tour of the decayed Panopticon, her face unreadable as always.

« So this is how it looks like. » she said unimpressed, as if she was commenting on the disappointing size of a famous monument.

« How what looks like ? »

« Gallifrey destroyed. I already knew, but seeing it with my own eyes... What happened ? Daleks ? »

« Cybermen. And the Master. I'm not sure about the details, and I'm not sure I want to know. »

« The Matrix access Chamber is this way. » Innocet said, leading the Doctor through the ghost parliament.

« You seem to know the place like you own it. Hasn't it ever crossed your mind ? »

« What ? »

« Becoming Lord President. »

Innocet rolled her eyes.

« It's not like I could even dream of it. Just because the universe opens wide it's pearly gates everytime you take a step doesn't mean it's the same for the rest of us. »

« A shame. You would make a great Lady President. A far better one than me.»

« Gallifrey already has a Lady President and she would be pained you suggest she does a bad job. »

The Doctor nodded, duly embarrassed.

« Of course, for you Romana is still President. I wonder how it feels like to belong somewhen. »

« Who's the Prime Minister those days ? » Innocet asked suddenly.

« Boris Johnson, why ? » the Doctor replied instantly.

Innocet flashed a « gotcha » smile and the Doctor didn't try to argue.

The Matrix access Chamber was untouched, an empty shell of its former self, machines and terminals silent like sleeping beasts the Doctor was about to wake up. Innocet pulled the data core from under her kimono. The giant wooden keys clanked on their ring as she circled around the terminal console.

« Go to the Matrix gates, Doctor. I'll take care of the rest. »

« You know how to operate the Matrix ? » the Doctor asked, raising an eyebrow.

Innocet shook her head, flustered.

« No, of course not. But one of us has to do it. »

The Doctor jumped into the luminous ring on the center plinth and the whole room woke up with glowing lights and a low purring. Innocet looked frantically around her, her hearts pounding as memories were flooding back. The Doctor closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

« It recognized me as a former Lord President. Actually, I don't remember resigning. Am I still Lord President ? »

Innocet watched silently, waiting for instructions.

« Innocet, I need you to put the datacore in the square socket. » the Doctor explained.

She nodded and fumbled with the delicate golden lace frame to reveal the black cube lodged inside. She held it with reverence and hovered it above the designated area, while making eye contact with the Doctor. The Time Lady nodded silently.

« I'm going to enter the Matrix. You can come with me, it's well deserved after all you've been through. »

Innocet took a few steps backward, instinctively recoiling from the dreaded machine. The Doctor noticed and smiled softly.

« It's okay if you don't want to come. »

« No. I'm always by your side, Snail » she said, draping herself in courage.

« I don't know what the Time Lords did to you, Innocet, but I'll do my best to keep you safe. »

Saying those words, the Doctor extended a hand out of the holographic circle. Innocet gave a last glance to the deserted ruins and swallowed her fears. Taking her Cousin's hand, she closed her eyes and whispered « For the House of Lungbarrow ». Then she braced herself for the whirlpool of thoughts and voices to suck her whole into the pit of Spulchasm.

Nothing happened. Innocet kept squeezing the Doctor's hand in hers, making the Time Lady squirm silently.

« You can open you eyes » she said softly.

Innocet squinted at the grayish light of the sky. She and the Doctor were standing in a vast, flat area covered in snow. cotton snowflakes were fluttering around like butterflies. Unless they were ashes. A few silvery trees were hiding shyly behind a curtain of mist.

« Is this the Matrix ? » she asked her Cousin half in awe, half in dismay.

« Yes, I think we are in the Matrix. It can take all sort of appearances, mostly symbolic ones. »

« Like in a dream ? »

« Yes, like in a shared dream designed by the Matrix algorithms. But why snow ? »

The Doctor crouched and took an handful of snow, crunching it with her bare hands.

« Is it really snow, though ? »

Innocet frowned as she picked up a pinch of the white powdery substance.

« It certainly looks like snow, but it feels warm. »

« Warm and fuzzy snow. It's almost like walking in a giant Christmas shop window. »

Innocet was taking a few careful steps that quickly turned into a playful dance, as she had removed her heavy Japanese platform shoes. She was ankles deep into the warm snow, her white socks getting wet.

« I like it here » she finally declared, glancing a serene smile at the Doctor.

« It is so peaceful » the Time Lady conceded. « Almost too peaceful. I am sorry, but I don't share your feelings. Something has gone very wrong. »

Innocet frowned but didn't add anything as the Doctor was waving her sonic tool around. Instead, she closed her eyes and felt the warm snow melting on her skin. Everything was alright.

The Doctor let out a frustrated growl that almost ended as a painful whine.

« What did I expect ? Stupid, stupid Doctor ! »

Innocet took her arm gently.

« Of course no one's there ! The Master must have wiped out the Matrix too when he turned the Time Lords into another army of failed Cybermen. He left nothing behind him but ashes and death. »

« I don't feel any death here » Innocet whispered. « Have you seen that ? »

« What ? » the Doctor snapped.

Innocet let go of her arm and pointed toward the mist.

«I saw something moving. Right there. »

The Doctor sprinted to the horizon, her long coat billowing after her. Innocet tried to catch up, but she was still wearing her festival yukata and could only achieve small step after small step.  
They soon reached the woods. It wasn't exactly a forest, even if it had looked like one from afar. The trees were growing sparse on the same snowy flat ground. No tufts of grass, no thorn bushes, not a single root coming out the ground. Only plain, untouched snow, and those theater trees.

From the meadow, the Doctor had thought the trees were naked dark wood barely visible behind the mist, but now she was closer, she realized there were barely visible on their own. Smooth, silvery wood stretching its branches as to reach the equally grey sky. As she looked closer, she realized they weren't actually naked, but some of them were hatching delicate clear leaves, still the size of spring burgeons.

« This is beautiful. » Innocet whispered.  
She wasn't even sure why she didn't dare to speak louder. Maybe she was scared of upsetting the silent snow and elegant trees.

« I don't see anything » the Doctor said, not bothering to lower her voice.

Innocet looked around and noticed a shape moving between the trees. Walking silently away from the Doctor, she glided between the ghost trees. The shadowy figure kept melting away in the mist as Innocet came closer.

« Hey » she whispered « Please, don't be scared, I'm not going to hurt you. »

The small figure froze and Innocet managed to get closer. A smile crept on her lips as she realized the little runaway was a child. A ginger haired urchin of undefined gender those elongated limbs had overgrew their pristine pre-Academy robes. They didn't leave any trace in the snow.

« My name is Innocet, of the House of Lungbarrow. What's your name ? » she asked softly.

The child only shook their head. Their face was blank, almost featureless and Innocet had the strange impression she would completely forget their traits as soon as she would look away.  
She got startled when a hand touched her shoulder.

« Thank you, Innocet » the Doctor said softly, her own eyes stuck on the silent child.

As they stood in silence, more flimsy figures appeared between the trees, forming a curious crowd around the two adult women.

« Who are you ? » the Doctor whispered.

« You are asking yourself the wrong question, Doctor. » a deep, female voice intoned from behind them.

The ghostly crowd of faceless children had opened to allow a tall, dark skinned woman inside the circle. She was dressed elegantly, all fitting black clothes with a touch of tasteful color and a pair of tiny, round glasses.

« The real question is ''how many children'' ? »

The Doctor frowned as she stared at her reflection.

« How is that important ? »

« Let me give you another clue » the dark woman said « You should count the trees too. »

Innocet nodded, as if that made sense to her.

« Doctor, who is this woman ? »

« She's me. Or was me. Or will be me. »

« I am only a mere interface of the Matrix » the mirror Doctor corrected her original. « Using the face of the only person you trust. »

Innocet noticed she wasn't leaving any footsteps in the snow as she moved closer.

« Welcome back, Innocet of the House of Lungbarrow. I am pleased to see I chose my Champion so wisely. »

Innocet blinked but showed no surprised. Deep down she knew what the Matrix had meant when she had asked the Doctor to count the children. She had known from the exact moment she had caught the urchin the the phantom woods.

« There are as many children as there are trees » she explained to the Doctor.

« How do you know ? »

« I know it, that's all. Because I know what this place is. »

The interface-Doctor tutted in appreciation and smiled warmly at Innocet.

« Please, expose your theory, dear. »

«The trees we see are only half of the forest. The other half in buried under our feet, woodlands and wide canopies of roots. The only branches I saw from my room's window before the Drudges boarded them. This place is a graveyard and the trees aren't trees. They are graves. »

« Graves of Time Lords » the Doctor finished. « No bodies, but biodata exposed inside out. The trees are the biodata of all Time Lords who died during the destruction of Gallifrey. But why children ? »

« Children are the embodiment of hope. » Innocet said.

« This is brilliant ! »

The Doctor turned to her counterpart and took her hands excitably.

« This is not a graveyard, this is a Loom Forest. Hundred, no, thousands of Time Lords waiting to be born again. »

« Not only Time Lords. Gallifreyans, men, women, children, all saved in the Matrix during the Last Days » the Interface explained.

The Doctor made a move, almost ready to hug the tall woman, but she thought it would probably get awkward. Innocet was radiating with peaceful contentment as the faceless children were surrounding her, staring curiously at her alien clothes and soft features.

« Interface, I need your help to access the content of an external data storage » the Doctor commanded.

« Data core detected » the mirror Doctor said in a robotic voice. « Please follow me to your biodata entry. »

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy to include my beautiful dream in this story <3\. I woke up with gorgeous images and so many theories !  
> I'm pretty sure the term Loom Forest comes from a Gallifrey audio I haven't listened to yet, but I read it somewhere on Tumblr and I immediately thought about my dream so I'm going to borrow it even if I have no idea what it is actually referring to ^^.


	26. Bloom nobly, Ink-Black Cherry Tree

“So, each tree is someone's biodata ?” the Doctor chattered as she followed her mirror image through the ethereal forest “This is brilliant ! I've seen my own biodata once. Twice, actually, but I'd rather not to think about it. Bad memories. Anyway, biodata usually looks like wefts, or threads. Why trees ?” 

The interface smiled mysteriously, warm and motherly. The Doctor wondered if she really looked like this, or if the Matrix had only borrowed the face and not the expression that went with it.

“I don't know, it's you who see trees.”

“Oh, I see !” the Doctor exclaimed. “Of course those aren't real trees made of wood and branches. They're the tree structures of a very, very elaborate software. I bet they're all linked to the system's root !”

“They are. Far under your feet lies the heart of the Matrix.”

“Look at this, Snail.” Innocet whispered, her delicate hand brushing a young leaf. “I think those leaves are a metaphorical representation of the remaining timelines growing back.”

“It's an interesting theory” the Matrix approved with a nod. “Go on, please.”

“Time isn't a linear stream running peacefully toward the ocean. As any time traveler know, it's more like a web. Threads intertwining with each other, supporting the great fabric of history. I suppose, if you take every individual life independently, they must look like trees. So many possibilities emerging from a single seed.”

The Doctor looked at Innocet with puzzled eyes, ready to add her grain of salt, but a stern look from the Matrix made her close her mouth. 

“How does it work ? Do timelines just grow again like sprouts ? If they do, why do certain people die young ? Who decide what timeline is right and wrong ?”

Innocet's soft whisper was becoming more frantic as she was pacing between the trees, inspecting the silvery buds opening into clear leaves. Trees. Bare threads of biodata exposed to her eyes like the wide open womb of the Loom. Ready to be reborn. 

“I don't know” the Doctor said. “It is not fair, but no one is allowed to decide. In the end, it is what it is.”

The Matrix nodded and took over the explanations.

“Do you know what is the most difficult job in Gallifrey's politics ?”

“Gold Usher ? Sounds utterly boring.”

“It's Lord Burner, actually.”

The Doctor frowned.

“I thought it was only a rumor.”

The Matrix shook her head and adjusted her round yellow glasses slowly. She wasn't used to have a public, the Doctor guessed, their little visit must have felt like Christmas to her.

“It's easy to kill someone, but erasing them from the fabric of time in another story. You might think killing their parents in the cradle would be enough, but time is a living being, it usually heals if you give it time.”

“I met a man, once” the Doctor said “He was the grandson of a couple of friends. A brilliant man, an astronaut actually. A few months after this encounter, one of my friends died. He was so young, he never got to propose to his once future wife, let alone having a child with her. Why do I remember this astronaut ?”

“Maybe the astronaut wasn't your friend's grandson, after all” the Matrix suggested. “Maybe he was only a distant relative, maybe they had no link at all except a name and it was all a misunderstanding.”

“The astronaut was your friend's grandson and at the same time he wasn't." Innocet said "Just like you are my Cousin, but at the same time you are not.”

“What do you mean ?”

“I've heard rumors about your renegade father and human mother, about your brother working for the Madam President herself, and other ones I cannot even say out loud. Of course I've dismissed them all, I was there on your Namesday, when you took your first breath and stepped from the Loom. But what if they were all true ? After all, no one has meddled with Time more than you.”

She looked so peaceful when she said terrifying things like that, her idle fingers playing with the hem of her sleeve. The Doctor didn't know what to say. It wasn't the first time she had trouble remembering her past, or rather remembering which past was truly hers, but Innocet made it all sound so easy. “They are all your past, Doctor” a tiny voice was whispering in her head “all your past and what you learned about the Timeless Child doesn't change anything at all”. It was such a nice thing to think about. No truth, no lie, no mystery. Just here and now, and a treasure chest full of chosen memories. 

“I wonder what my tree looks like” Innocet intoned. “It's probably a very modest one. Maybe on one of its dead branches they are all still alive.”

“Please, don't let your mind go there” the Doctor pleaded “Dead branches break easily and you might fall.”

“I know. It's just almost nice to imagine Cousin Luton, and Cousin Arkhew, and Cousin Glospin, and Housekeeper Satthralope could be waiting for me back home.”

“I know. That's why I never come back to the same place twice. This way, I always picture my friends are waiting for me.”

“And they are, somewhere, somewhen, they are all waiting for you.”

The three women kept walking in silence through the woods, occasionally spotting a ghostly child half hidden in the mist. As they progressed, a twisted, looming shadow emerged from the canopy. The Doctor shivered, suddenly feeling very cold despite being knees deep into the warm snow. Innocet's eyes grew wider as she started to make sense of the large claws suspended above them. She gasped as a snowflake twirled before her eyes and landed on her nose.

Not a snowflake but a flower petal. A pure, white cherry blossom petal like the other ones falling from the sky. The dark claws above their heads where branches and what she had assumed to be clouds were actually clusters of flowers and thick foliage, white like snow and clear like water.

“Doctor” Innocet gasped, a finger pointing toward the sky “This is your tree.”

Shadows in the cream colored sky like veins in smooth marble, but no trunk to be seen; the tree's canopy formed a ceiling above the rest of the forest. It was almost poetic, the Doctor thought as she raised her eyes. Her monstrous shadow overbearing the whole history of Gallifrey, or what remained of it.

The Matrix was staring at her with piercing eyes through the colored lenses of her tiny glasses. The Doctor could almost feel her reading through her soul like she was made of glass. They stared at each other in silence and kept walking to the nexus. Innocet scooped a petal on the floor and blinked at it melted. What she had taken for snow had been cherry petals all along. Unless the cherry petals were actually some sort of snow, as they melted into water. The Doctor's tree was providing more than pretty shadows, it kept this place warm and hospitable. A smile crept on her face and she rushed after the two Doctors before the mist engulfed them completely.

“Oh, Snail, this is...”

“A abomination” the Doctor spat with disgust.

“The most beautiful thing I have ever seen.” Innocet marvelled as she circled closer to the trunk. The Matrix smiled at her knowingly. She could almost touch the bark, her fingers hovering at a respectful distance above it. Like the other trees, this one was silvery and not completely opaque, like a smoked glass sculpture. 

“How is that possible ?” the Doctor questioned their host. Her face was all frowny and angry, bringing unpleasant memories to Innocet. “Most branches are dead, but how can so many of them bear flowers ? It's impossible, no one can have so many parallel existences without destroying the whole structure of Time.”

“Except you have” the Matrix retorted dryly. “How many of you are there, running across the Vortex, doing and undoing history. You are not destroying the whole structure of the universe, you are holding it together.”

The Doctor took a few steps away from her undetermined self image and shook her head.

“It's ridiculous, I can't be holding anything together, I'm not that important.”

Innocet scoffed and pointed at the trunk, as it hadn't escaped her the Doctor hadn't looked at it yet, always averting her eyes away.

“The branches aren't the only oddity. Look at the base of this tree. It's like several trees have grown together, intertwining until they merge into a single entity.”

“It's impossible, it would mean I am several people” the Doctor said.

“The roots all converge to the truth” the Matrix said, rather unhelpfully.

“I suppose one of those stems is the rambunctious young Snail I grew up with” Innocet chimed. 

“Who am I ?” the Doctor growled, prowling around the Matrix.

“Doctor !” Innocet snapped at her Cousin.

“Who. Am. I ?” the Time Lady kept wailing, taking her head in her hands. 

“Doctor, the datacore.”

The Time Lady blinked, and smiled sheepishly at the Matrix interface, who had remained stoic the whole time.

“You need to identify. Please, proceed by engaging digital contact with your biodata interface.”

“Okay, so I touch the tree. Easy. Step 1 done” the Doctor chattered as she put her hand on the smooth bark. It was a strange sensation, like putting her hand on a field of static electricity. 

“Subject identified” the Matrix recited with her cheerful voice “Name, unknown. Age, unknown. Rank, Time Lord of the Prydonian Chapter. Occupation, unknown. Additional information : commonly known as 'the Doctor'”

The Doctor's eyes became glassy as the static ran through her body directly to her central nervous system. Innocet shrouded, none of this was her business. Noticing the Matrix had no interest in her whereabouts for the moment, she walked away through the trees. 

She could feel it pulsating through the tip of her fingers, like an invisible thread. She vaguely wondered how it would look, the tree of a living Gallifreyan. Of course there were all living in the absolute of space and time. As the fake Doctor who looked disturbingly too much like the Doctor had said, causalities were extremely rare in the great scheme of things. 

It took her less than ten minutes. Again, were minutes even a thing in this place ? A single tree, similar to all the other trees surrounding her. She deduced it must have been her Cousins trees, because she could feel the roots merging together under her feet. All lives were connected, but some had a more direct connection due to social and physical proximity. 

“Really pretty” she muttered to herself, letting her hand hover a few millimeters above the surface of the bark. The tree itself was pretty meager. She could guess by the respectable height of it she had a long life ahead of her, or at least probabilities were she would live a long life. Not a lot of branches, either dead or alive. Innocet was glad of that, the idea of aborted timelines made her a bit uneasy. She had always hated uncertainty, and her whole biodata screamed order and cleanliness. She smiled at the idea of the Doctor's reaction. Her Cousin would probably look away, all flustered, and maybe even attempt to make a kind remark. As if having a simple life was shameful in itself. But it wasn't, really. There was nothing better than a simple, ordinary life. 

“You can deduce very little of the upper branches” a warm voice said behind Innocet.

“I know, the appearances of a mundane existence can be deceitful” Innocet retorted “I'd rather judge a life by the roots it made in the collective history.”

The Matrix nodded in approval.

“Has the Doctor found what she was looking for ?” Innocet asked.

“Does the Doctor knows what she's looking for ?” The Matrix answered.

“I hope so. She's been wandering for quite a long time, she deserves a bit of closure.”

“You wish she would come with you, Housekeeper ?”

“Housekeeper-to-be, I'm not married yet. And no, I don't wish for anything of the sort, those are not the ways of the Doctor.”

Petals swirled around them, a soft breeze shaking the branches around them. Innocet caught one with the tip of her tongue. It had the same bittersweet after taste as a very ordinary dream in the few first seconds following the wake. She scolded herself for wanting more.

“Do you want to take a quick peek ?” the Matrix asked.

“No, it would be cheating.”

“You've already cheated quite a lot, Innocet of Lungbarrow. Meeting with the future is always cheating.”

“It wasn't on purpose.”

“I know, but soon you'll have to do it on purpose, and on such a larger scale.”

“Then I hope I'll be good at it. I have good genetic predetermination for that, so I don't worry much.”

The breeze ruffled Innocet's hair. The East wind was already blowing, soft and caressing, but how long before it started ripping whole branches apart.  
“You took me there, right ? You knew I would have to run away from Gallifrey, and also that I had nowhere to go but with the Doctor. That's why you put all those information in the datacore I cherish more than my own life.”

“For one hundred years, you've been the most important woman on Gallifrey.”

“So that's the reason why they didn't find anything with the Mind Probe ?” Innocet realized

“No, the reason why your mind got wiped out was because President Romanadvoratrelundar used the Probe herself after you passed out.”

Innocet nodded, not as disappointed as she should have been.

“Did she find anything ?”

“Nothing that would make sense to her or her CIA lapdogs.”

Innocet nodded and caught another petal on her hand. A small event detached from her timeline. She looked at its delicate structure as it was melting away and liked it, studying the taste thoroughly.

“I think I will like my future” she decided, a smile crawling on her youthful features. “Now I think we should get back to the Doctor. I know her when she's shaken, she's never up to any good.”

The Matrix chuckled, and Innocet smiled in return. This place alone was the proof there was a future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. Time flies !


	27. The Space Shrine Maiden returns Home

Innocet turned another page of the thick leather-bound album. She was sitting in a corner of the dark console room that looked a bit like a beehive themed discotheque. Or a discotheque in a beehive. She had found the album on one of the steps, discarded and tempting for the peering eyes. She was sure it wasn't there on the first trip. The Doctor had made no comment when Innocet had picked it up, so the later had taken it as a silent agreement. The yellowed pages contained pictures of many faces, some belonging to the Doctor, others to the friends they had made along the way. Innocet felt a slight pang of jealousy, not that she was ready to admit it.

“You haven't said a word since we left the Matrix, Snail” she said softly, not lifting her eyes from the book.

“Mmh” the Doctor muttered.

She hadn't stopped fiddling with the controls since they had walked in the TARDIS, and Innocet was sure they should have landed at least two hours ago.

“It's nice you keep all those photographs.”

“I don't. I have no idea where they come from. Probably the TARDIS, she took them from my mind and turned them into this very convenient album to show the guests when I'm not looking.”

The Doctor sounded irritated, and Innocet snapped the book closed.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to be privy.”

“Nah, you weren't. That's fine. I'm fine. Sorry if I've been rude.”

The Doctor finally turned on her heels, in a flurry of pale blue fabric. She was smiling, the emptiest, saddest smile Innocet had ever seen on this bright face. It was like looking at the sun on a cold winter day, it was there, but didn't give any warmth.

“You weren't rude, don't worry. I don't know what the Matrix showed you, but it's obviously a big deal.”

The Doctor jumped from the central plinth and joined Innocet on the low steps. She sat by her sides and took the album from her lap, opening it between them.

“I have no recollection of what happened after I touched my biodata strand. But I suppose that makes sense, the Matrix wouldn't let you know your own future without a good failsafe.”

Innocet nodded.

“I know. I didn't remember a thing after I got hijacked in the Matrix access chamber. Even if Romana hadn't wipe my mind, I don't think I would have remembered anything except for the feeling of jumbled images and sensations.”

“We're just pudding brains, after all” the Doctor mused “our organic synapses aren't wired to decode raw Matrix programs.”

“Hence the trees and snowfall.”

The Doctor nodded.

“Maybe I should have asked directly. Nevermind, even if I had, I don't think she would have answered my questions. I don't even think she remembers the truth, after all those data manipulations.”

“You talk like there something like a single truth when we both saw what your biodata is made of.”

The Doctor stared at Innocet, tensed like a wild rabbit under a car's lights.

“Does it scare you ?” the later asked carefully.

“Of course it scares me. For a while I had stopped wondering who I was, because I had more important things to think about, but now it's finally biting back.”

“Maybe you should simply keep going. The past is still and dusty, it doesn't need you to stir it awake.”

“Dapper young lad, isn't he ?”

The Doctor pointed at the black and white picture of an old man with shoulder length white hair swept on the back of his head. He was smiling mischievously at the camera like a brat about to steal in the cookie jar. Innocet smiled.

“Yes, poor thing. He's just a newly woven loomling and yet he thinks he owns the universe.”

“He doesn't know better.”

“And he's so carefree. Does it change anything if he's already left too many bodies behind ? Maybe he had been gifted with a blank new mind for a reason. Don't they say forgetfulness is a blessing ?” Innocet suggested as she carefully wrapped an arm around the Doctor's shoulder, hugging her like she used to do centuries and centuries ago.

“I aldready know your answer, but if you need somewhere to belong...”

“Thank you, Innocet, but I really cannot follow you.”

“Maybe in the future ? After all, one day we'll make it through the War and my timeline will hopefully align on yours.”

The Doctor shook her head, anger suddenly flashing in her green eyes.

“You won't make it, Innocet. For a matter of fact, you might already be dead. Unless you decided to stay and never returned to Gallifrey.”

“Then I'll die with my Family.”

The Doctor roughly pushed Innocet away and jumped on her feet, towering her sitting Cousin like a very angry bird of prey.

“Do you understand how it feels like to send you to your death ?”

The War, it was all the Doctor had in mind. But the more she tried to warn Innocet, the more stubborn the other woman became. Of course, she was so ignorant. She had no idea what the Time War was like, the despair, the billions of deaths on thousands of battlefields and sky trenches. Daleks and Time Lords shredding the universe in pieces. She still thought she could make it out alive, and even if death appeared as a possibility, it was a risk worth taking. But what did she have left without her House and Family ? Nothing to live for and so much to die for.

“If you tell me more about the War, I'll be able to make plans ahead. I have a TARDIS, we don't have to stay on Gallifrey.”

“You won't even have a TARDIS anymore, unless you steal another one, of course.”

“Sorry ?” Innocet asked with a hint of dread.

“She didn't tell you, then. Sub-artron centrifuges are class 3 forbidden time travel devices for a reason. The power needed to make the jump has more than seventy percent chances to drain the TARDIS dry. Death by starvation, fortunately quite quick, but still long enough for the agonizing creature. And that's if the TARDIS had enough energy to make the jump, otherwise it might just explode in the Vortex.”

Innocet giggled awkwardly.

“You're trying to scare me, aren't you ?”

“I'm not” the Doctor chastised her. “This is Time War technology. developed when Time Lords and TARDIS alike were nothing more than expandable canon fodder.”

“But I have no choice. If I don't return in the right timeline before the War, my Cousins will die.”

“Your devotion is admirable” the Doctor reckoned.

Innocet hummed and jumped on her feet. She started prancing nonchalantly around the console, her eyes avoiding the Doctor's gaze.

“You are wrong about me, Snail. I am no self-sacrificing heroine. My Cousins don't need me, and I'm pretty sure don't care if I come back or not, but I am a coward disguising my homesickness behind fake concern.”

The Doctor chuckled and joined Innocet behind the glowing pillars.

“Why is it so hard to believe your words ? You are probably right about our Cousins, but I don't buy your fake concern excuse. You care, Innocet, it's a part of who you are.”

“Yes, I care about them, but I also care about you, and about Alice.”

“Sadly you cannot save everyone” the Doctor said grimly.

“You said seventy percent chances ?”

“One chance out of three you both die in the Vortex.”

“Greenwich is a good energy rift. Better than Cardiff, if you know the exact spot.”

“Yes, if you do your calculations well, there's something like zero point two chances for your TARDIS to be repairable.”

“That's more than enough for me.”

The Doctor smiled behind the rising and falling crystal colomn.

“I didn't recall you had so much confidence. Did you actually follow a Quadrigger training ?”

“I'm a natural telepath, my DNA was strictly selected to make me a suitable Housekeeper. And I have the best ship.”

“The ship who hypnotized and kidnapped you ?”

“Isn't she brilliant ?”

“That's my word !” the Doctor pouted comically.

The two women walked silently in the fresh evening. Innocet looked at the sky, enjoying the blue and gold twilight for the last time. The familiar shape of the red telephone booth was already poking behind the trees, ignored by all the tourists walking past it.

“Are you sure you want to help ?” Innocet asked. “I could still find Mr Bolt.”

“It's the least I can do to reassure myself. Also, I don't really trust a Cyberman with TARDIS modifications. No offense, but some things require a Time Lord's mind. Sorry if I sound full of myself, but I think I'm your best chance” the Doctor explained.

“I know. Thank you for everything.”

Innocet pushed the glass panel and walked into the street library, followed by the Doctor. The inside of the TARDIS was plundged in semi-obscurity, only lit by the warm glow of the fairy lights. The console reacted to the presence of its pilot, lighting up slowly like an old low-consuming light bulb. Innocet sat in the captain's chair, rocking herself comfortably as the Doctor started pulling cables from the wooden panels.

“Do you remember the promise you made that day on the hill ?” Innocet suddenly asked.

“Which promise ?” the Doctor asked, not bothering lifting her head or removing her silly goggles.

“You said you would come to my wedding.”

“I suppose it's still up for me. If you invite me, of course” she added coyly.

Innocet rolled her eyes.

“You are the Kithriarch of the House of Lungbarrow. Your presence is required to make the marriage legal.”

“Then I'll do my best to come. Have you got any idea for the dress code ? Matching bride's maid gowns, maybe ? Can I be one of your bride's maid ? I've never been one.”

“I haven't thought of the specifics, but I've always wanted a very traditional wedding. Flowers everywhere, a long veil embroidered with the Family's most brilliant achievements and the first dance with you, my Kithriarch and oldest friend. For the dress code we both know you'll do whatever you want.”

“Yes, isn't it part of the fun ?”

Innocet smiled.

“It is. I am only a bit worried about the veil. There is no way it can be decorated with all of your deeds in a thousand years. Embroidery takes time, you know.”

“Then you can summarized my life with those words : 'NEVER Cruel Or Cowardly. NEVER Give Up. NEVER Give In. And if you ever are, always make amends'”

“I can't wait for us to be reunited again” Innocet mused, her hands reaching the heavy wodden keys and the datacore dangling around her neck.

“It will take a long time before I can set a foot on Gallifrey.”

“I know, but it will be worth waiting. Maybe I'll have many heroic adventures to tell you. How my Cousins and I changed the course of the Time War.”

“I trust you for that.”

The Doctor closed the panel after having stuffed all the cables inside. She removed the goggles and threw them on a low hanging branch. Looking awkwardly at Innocet, she swiped her hands on her trousers.

“Is it time to say goodbye ?” she asked nervously.

“Maybe you want a last cup of tea. I have a very fine rose hip blend.”

“I know, it tastes like the Old Times.”

Innocet tried to hide her disappointment.

“I see, Alice already served it to you. A magenta marmalade scone, maybe ?”

The Doctor shook her head.

“The most we stretch the farewell, the more painful it gets.”

“Good thing this is not farewell.”

“It's not. Only goodbye.” The Doctor hugged Innocet roughly, startling her a little. “See you soon.”

Innocet smiled and returned the hug. The Doctor let her go and walked silently passed the doors without looking back. She was so bad at hiding her tears.

The TARDIS was suddenly very silent, dispite the low and comfortable humming. Every book on the shelves was a witness of the time spent on Earth. Books of all languages, old and new ones, classics and pulp fiction, crimes and romance, philosophy and science. Innocet walked along the shelves, caressing the paper and hardback spines with the tip of her fingers.

“It's finally time we come back home, Old Girl.”

She found the funny goggles still hanging on their branch like an odd fruit. With a smile, she put them on her head. A last memory of the Doctor. She pressed several keys and waited patiently for all the readings to show. The TARDIS could still take in more energy. As the departure came closer, Innocet felt something scratch and claw inside her.

“I'm sorry Alice, I cannot release you completely yet.”

“It's fair I suppose. You finally became my Pilot” a bitter voice rang inside her head.

“Please, don't take it personally.”

“I don't. I'm just a TARDIS after all. A mere machine you ended up projecting too much emotions into.”

“A TARDIS is more than a mere machine, and you are more than a part of me.”

Air flickered next in the captain's suspended chair and a holographic silhouette appeared.

“You are wrong Innocet. I am part of you, and I've always been. No matter how this ends up, I'll always be there, inside your mind.”

Alice let herself drop to the floor and circled her Pilot like a cat appreciating a prey.

“If this machine die, my consciousness won't remain, but I'll still be part of your memories. And what are we all but a pile of memories stacked together.”

Innocet smiled and allowed Alice more freedom.

“Please, don't make it sound like farewell.”

“Did you like me ?”

“You know I care for you.”

“How stupidly emotional of you.”

“I know you care too.”

“I don't.”

“Then why do you let me kill you ?” Innocet asked genuinely. “We both know you could stop me.”

“I don't know” Alice admitted. “Maybe I'm tired of running away. Wouldn't it be nice to haunt your mind forever. It's a beautiful place, you know ?”

“Thank you.” Innocet replied bitterly.

“I mean it. I love all of it.”

The hologram flickered and took the appearance of the tall ginger haired child. She did a few dance steps, her heavy scarlet pinafore dress and strawberry blonde hair floating in a surreal way. Her green eyes were shining above freckled cheeks.

“You were such a joyful child.”

She twirled lightly in the air and landed on her feet with a new appearance. Innocet flinched when the raggedy, emaciated woman stared at her with piercing eyes. Her pale face was still proud despite the dark purple circles around her eyes and her anemied lips. This Alice seemed heavy dispite her slightly flickering form. Just by looking at her, Innocet could almost feel the burden of hair on her back, like a phantom pain.

“And you were so brave even in the darkest times.”

The frail ghost came facing Innocet and copied her posture, before turning into a miror image. The original stumbled backward, only to be imitated by the snarky hologram.

“Don't worry, I like the current you too. You look so pretty in Earth clothes.”

“This is not funny” Innocet snapped.

Alice flashed a smile and sat in the captain's chair.

“Look at me ! I'm the most important woman on Gallifrey.”

The TARDIS laughed at her Pilot's flustered expression.

“Admit it, you've enjoyed the attention quite a lot.”

“I was happy for the Doctor” Innocet defended herself. “I got used by influencial people for a mission that went above my head, there's nothing to be proud of.”

Alice tilted her head and talked with a disturbing sense of truth.

“But I am proud of you, for real. You don't know it yet, but you are really important. And so brave.”

Innocet shook her head and put a hand on the dematerialization level.

“Wait !” Alice shrieked “we haven't said goodbye yet !”

“I'm sorry, Alice. I am so sorry.”

“You don't have to be sorry. As I told you, I'm part of you. Past, present and future.”

The lights around them flickered, and when they stabilized, Innocet noticed the stranger sitting in her chair. There was something terribly familiar in the tall figure draped in blue gauze and silks. Under her veil, long braids were running from her head like a cascada of jet black hair and golden ornanments, her eyes so pale Innocet was worried she might suffer from a vision impairment, and her dark skin was adorned with gold tatoos only seen in anciant illustrations. Long limbs were poking through the layers of fancy clothes.

“You shouldn't have done this” she whispered darkly as she adverted her gaze away.

“Why looking away ? The future is not that scary you know. Just like death, it's a natural part of life. Isn't it a majestic face, perfectly suitable for a grand lady like you.”

“I don't know who this person is and I don't want to !”

“Oh, dear” the deep and melodious voice chimed “is it a spoiler ?”

Innocet growled and snapped the lever down. The whole structure of the ship tumbled and Alice screamed in rage and panic.

“You foolish little...”

“Shut up !” Innocet cut in. “I'm trying to pilot you out of the Vortex !”

The hologram made a face and turned back into her default appearance, all lanky limbs, featureless face and ash blond hair. She hang on quite pathetically on the frame of the woven cage as it was violently shaken by the turbulences. Several light bulbs exploded with hot sparkles and books were ejected from the shelves. Innocet caught a branch and held on for dear life as she maneuvered with the controls. She let out a whimper as a book flied a few inches from her left ear.

“We're almost there” she yelled to cover the deafening sounds around them. “Alice, I promise I won't let you down !”

Alice flinched, but seemed to settle a bit at her Pilot's voice.

“You'll become a good Housekeeper, Innocet.” she said earnestly. “Let me take the controls for a last time.”

Innocet eyed at her suspiciously.

“Why ?”

“Because I need you to do something. Please, trust me.”

The woman nodded and loosened her telepathic control over the TARDIS. Suddenly, the ship stabilized and she fell on her side. It was still dark and she could smell smoke in the air. The explosions had probably started a fire somewhere in the library, she painfully realised. At least she was able to walk now.

“I should have enough energy to land, but I can't guarantee I will do it in one piece. Gather all your most valued belongings and keep them with you.”

“Thank you, Alice” Innocet whispered.

“That's not all. There is something I want you to grab for me. It is very important.”

As Alice said those words, a little trap door opened next to the console. Innocet peered into the darkness, noticing the dangling rope ladder.

“You want me to go in there ?”

“It's not as deep as it looks. Do you trust me ?”

Innocet swallowed and nodded.

“I trust you.”

“Then do it, please. I'll guide you.”

The blast of an explosion above their heads suggested the internal dimensions of the ship had started collapsing. Innocet fell on her knees as the ground was shaking again and electricity buzzed above her head, sending menacing shivers down her spine.

“So much for my wedding veil” Innocet muttered

“Hurry up, please, I won't be able to sustain my internal dimensions any longer” Alice pleaded.

Innocet crawled to the trap door and grabbed the ladder with shaking hands.

“Please tell me what to do” she humbly asked Alice as she started to climb down into the dark pit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does this feel like the end ;-) ?  
> I hope to finish this story before Christmas. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, stay tuned for Innocet's future adventures !


	28. Faith is for the Transient Poeple

Innocet's eyes flickered open, and she closed them shut, blinded by aggressive white light. Her head felt heavy and empty. It would have been terrifying if her mind wasn't numbed by the concussions. Her body didn't ache, mainly because her wounds had already been tended to. Painkillers were doing an amazing job at making the world feel unreal.

She whimpered and finally managed to snap her eyes open. Unsurprisingly, she was in a hospital room. Buzzing, familiar machines surrounded her, the room had six walls and no window. Gallifrey, she thought. She had made it home. Next to her bed, a woman was sitting in a chair, reading on a data pad. Innocet smiled as she recognize her friend.

“Lady Leela...” she whispered.

The alien woman almost jumped on her chair, the data pad falling on her lap.

“Innocet ! My goodness, you are awake !”

The Gallifreyan woman smiled weakly.

“I must tell Romana !” Leela exclaimed as she grabbed a communicator from the nearby bedside table.

Innocet closed her eyes and let herself sink back into the soft pillow, the clouded sleep dragging her down. When she emerged again, two figures were standing by. Lady Romana was wearing her civilian clothes, a cream coloured tunic and brown trousers. Her hair was down, and nothing in her appearance betrayed her highest functions.

“I am relieved to see you well, Innocet” she said fondly. “I owe you my apology, after all everything that happened to you is my fault.”

Innocet shook her head, but was unable to answer. Romana kept talking, but her words felt like a dry quill on paper, leaving nothing but a slight, colorless craving. She finally picked a few words, which made her frown in confusion.

“We don't know how much time you spent in that TARDIS wreckage, maybe you've stayed there for weeks. If your Cousin Owis and Lady Iffalunar hadn't found the wasted thing on Mount Lung, the whole structure might have collapsed on you.”

“Owis and Iffalunar ?” she asked weakly “What on Gallifrey were they doing on Mount Lung.”

“Stargazing” Leela said with a mischievous smile. “Lady Iffalunar had borrowed the Cerulean Head Curator's telescope.”

Innocet groaned, but could barely hide a smile.

“She's dead, isn't she” she finally managed to ask.

“Who ?” Romana enquired warily

“Alice, my TARDIS.”

The Time Lady bowed her head.

“I'm afraid there is nothing we can do to repair her. You seem to have gone through a nasty time barrier. You didn't try to get to the Old Time did you ?”

Innocet shook her head.

“Went to the future. Far in the future. I cannot tell you what I saw.”

Romana and Leela exchanged a look of sheer terror and Innocet felt bad for keeping her knowledge for herself. But she knew by instinct it was the right thing to do. Romana nodded gravely.

“You are right, it is no good to know about the future. With everything happening these days, it isn't hard to guess a series of very unfortunate events is coming.”

Leela nodded, her face turning very sour for a fraction of seconds, before returning to normal, as if she had completely forgotten what had been upsetting her in the first place.

“The Doctor had to tweak my TARDIS a bit so I could return home” Innocet explained.

“The Doctor ?” Leela and Romana exclaimed with a single voice. “How is he doing ?” the Time Lady added.

Innocet smiled and managed to put herself in a sitting position.

“Not he” she said, shaking her head “She's much older than the last time we saw him, but she's still the same. I wish I had been able to see the stars with her.”

Leela and Romana exchanged a quizzical look.

“She promised she would come back for my wedding, but we'll have to wait, there are time knots she cannot cross. I guess she's involved to the neck into the upcoming events.”

“Of course she is” Romana said, as it was the most obvious thing.

Suddenly, Innocet startled and got agitated.

“My purse, were is it ?” she asked, looking around frantically.

“Don't strain yourself” Romana scolded her “the Earth clothes you were wearing have been carefully folded and stored in this drawer, along with the tiny bag you were clutching to.”

“Please, can I have it ?” she asked wearily.

Leela pulled the drawer open and produced a gold colored purse and a patterned garment neatly folded.

“Have you been to Japan ?” Romana asked as she examined the fabric.

“Yes, I spent most of the twenty first century in a city called Kyoto” Innocet said with a smile “Wonderful place, I'll miss the home and the friends I made there.”

She opened the purse and started fumbling into it, pulling out diverse small objects she aligned neatly on the white sheet. Several flyers advertising food places and activities written in an Earth language neither Romana nor Leela were really familiar with, but that they both recognized as Japanese. A pink rice cake wrapped in foil. A picture of Innocet and a blond woman with a bright smile, wise eyes, and a very familiar sense of fashion. 

Finally, Innocet found the treasure she was looking for : a small piece of root that looked like a twisted potato, or fresh ginger.

“Protyon Unit, commonly known as TARDIS coral” Romana said in awe. “And it's alive.”

“Alice asked me to pick it in her central system, under the console” Innocet explained. “It seemed very important to her, the last vow of a dying soldier.”

“If we take care of it, it can be grown into a new TARDIS” Romana said as Innocet carefully held the precious piece of wood.

“Alice's offspring” Innocet whispered with an immense respect. “She wanted a legacy.”

“Or she didn't want you to come back alone” Leela suggested.

Innocet bowed her head and a tear ran down her cheek.

“You have a TARDIS of your own, now” Romana said with a smile “Even if it's a bit too young to travel yet.”

“I don't need a TARDIS” Innocet protested. Then, suddenly, her eyes lit up. She fumbled into the folds of her garment and found her keys and the black, gold framed, data core.

“Alice, you beautiful genius” she called, her voice facing the deep silence in her head. “I don't think she wanted me to have a TARDIS.”

She held the TARDIS coral and the data core in front of her.

“A sprout of sentient, living wood, and the Grey-print of the House of Lungbarrow. The body and the mind. She knew nothing mattered to me more than the House, so she decided to become the House.”

Now, Innocet was crying, torrents of tears running from her eyes.

“Thank you, my friend. I hope you are resting in a better place now. I already miss you, and I'll always keep you in my memories.”

Leela walked closer and put a hand on Innocet's shoulder. 

“Your TARDIS was wise and brave. I propose that we build a memorial for her by her last resting place, next to the crater on Mount Lung's slope.”

“That's were we crashed ?” Innocet asked “She really took me home, then.”

“She did” Romana said, contaminated by the emotional mist floating around. “She is still there, you can have a ceremony. The Quadriggers will dematerialize her for the last time near the remindings of your ancestral Family House.”

“She won't be alone anymore, she has a Family now. For all eternity. It's all what she ever wished for.”

Innocet sank in her pillows again and closed her eyes. She looked peaceful in her sorrow, like a widow who has accepted her lonely fate. Romana gathered her treasures on the bedside table, her eyes lingering on the picture of the eccentric woman in a ridiculous rainbow shirt. The smile never changed. Then, she and Leela left the room, allowing Innocet a bit of privacy.

“Lady Romana ?” Innocet called softly.

Romana tilted her head at Leela, silently telling her to continue alone as she returned to bed.

“Yes, Innocet”

“What happened to Lady Leela's child ? She's not carrying it anymore, but I feel no presence in her mind.”

Romana frowned, not in an upset way, but more like she needed intense concentration.

“Child, you say ? There are no children yet on Gallifrey.”

Now, it was Innocet who seemed confused.

“I thought... she and Andred... the Doctor asked her to name her child after him but he didn't tell his name”

Romana's face suddenly lit up with realization.

“How did I forget that ?” she exclaimed “Please, don't let Leela know, it's better that she doesn't remember. It's all my fault, what happened to her child.”

Innocet tilted her head and stretched a hand to her President and friend.

“I accepted to take her with me in the N-Space. It was just a peaceful diplomatic mission, nothing to worry about. But we got retained by complex business and she gave birth there, to a beautiful little girl. I'm not sure what happened next. All I remember was a big tear in the fabric of time, like the place we call the Untempered Schism. I think the child escaped Leela's watch...”

Romana's voice faltered and her eyes went vacant again. Innocet squeezed her hand.

“Maybe the child did survived and was found by a loving family, and she lived a long and happy life, carrying Gallifrey's legacy through the stars.”

Romana blinked.

“Did you want to tell me something, Innocet ?” she asked, as the memory of their previous conversation had already fallen back to oblivion.

“No, I just wanted to thank you for everything you did for us.” Innocet said with a kind smile “the House of Lungbarrow owes you, and in quality of appointed Housekeeper, I swear my eternal fidelity to you, Lady Romanadvoratrelundar. For all the Dark Times to come, you can count on us to serve you.”

Romana swayed her hand has if she was chasing a moth away.

“It's nothing, I just righted an old wrong done to you lot. But I am glad I can count on one of the oldest and bravest lineage on Gallifrey. It will always be a honor to have your friendship.”

She stroked Innocet's hand and let it go, then left the room, finally allowing her friend the sleep she needed so badly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Farewell, Alice. I must confess I cried a bit when I wrote this chapter.


	29. Children's Festival, Innocent Treasures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, I got really busy at work.

Gallifreyan summers were long and surprisingly cold. The twin sun barely gave any heat to the drylands, only golden light from early morning to late in the evening. 

There was a rumor among children that the hills surrounding the thin Cadon river hadn't always been bare rocks and ochre sand. Once upon a time, there had been vast green meadows and lush forests. Back then, the waters were running free and the sky was filled with clouds. Most adults remembered this Gallifrey. Gallifrey before the War, a living, breathing planet. But for the children, it belonged to the time of legends. It was easier for them to imagine Dalek saucers and scattered corpses of Battle TARDISes. 

It was one of the dusty summer days. Derian and his sister Elliet wandered away from the barn where they had spent all their life. Little Akytior had insisted to follow the two older kids, clutching her knitted cobblemouse toy against her chest. Elliet was skipping ahead, taking short sprints when she couldn't contain her excitement anymore, then stopped and ran back to her brother and little cousin. Derian was walking slowly, his whole body protesting against this ridiculous expedition. He had only agreed to come because of the rumors, but he was old enough to understand how childish they were.

"I can't wait to see the bride !" Elliet chattered carelessly, walking far ahead from the other kids. 

"Why should we care ?" Derian muttered.

"I bet she's going to wear beautiful robes, and maybe one of those large collars made of gold lace."

"Yeah, while we are eating bread and soup in a dusty barn. Dad says it's because of the Time Lords that Gallifrey is a dead place."

Elliet spun on her feet and put her fists on her hips in a spot on imitation of their mother.

"Maybe, but without the Lady Innocet, our parents would have died during the last Dalek bombing of Mount Cadon. And she's not even a Time Lord anyway."

"She's still a high born" the boy retorted with contempt. 

"I want to see the pretty bride" Akytior declared sternly, cutting her older cousin in his argument.

"We're almost there" Elliet said, pointing to the rumbles of a mountain that had been called Mount Lung. "The House should materialise soon."

The House of Lungbarrow was one of those mysteries that reminded on Gallifrey. Little oddities from the War, like the occasional TARDIS ghosts, the secret bunkers farmers found while digging for water or the pieces of Dalek cases that children used as scarecrows. 

The House was a proud construction of living wood, surrounded by luscious gardens, like a piece of old Gallifrey kept inside a time bubble. The children had often heard about it, but they had only seen it a few times, now and then. They had been told to stay away, and they had, but occasionally, a few of the occupants would risk themselves outside and visit the villagers. Derian hated how pleasant they were, with their colorful robes and easy smiles. To the other children, they were characters from a fairy tale, sharing sweets and tales, but the boy was too old for this nonsense. There was nothing supernatural about the House of Lungbarrow. 

Not long before the Time War, the House had fallen, both the building and its lineage, and a new one had been built on its old roots. The Lady Innocet had buried a piece of her dead TARDIS, creating an hybrid complex of living wood and dimentional engennering that could only travel in time, its roots maintening it in place on the slope of Mount Lung. But it had been enough to allow the brave Housekeeper a few skips in time to save most of the Outsiders and Shobogan farmers who seeked for her help. In exchange for breaking the laws of Time, the House had been condemn to flicker through time, always hidden between two nano-spans. Stabilize it for too long, and the Time War could seep though the breach and contamine the peaceful remains of Gallifrey with paradoxes and death. 

"If you hate the poeple of Lungbarrow so much, why did you come with us ?" Elliet asked smugly.

"Because mummy asked me too."

"Admit it, you want to see the Kithriarch !"

The boy shook his head vigorously.

"No, I swear ! Why would I care about some Timey in his big collar !"

"Because the Kithriarch of Lungbarrow isn't some random "Timey", as you say."

Soon, Derian noticed a few other kids hidden behind the rocks. One of them was playing with a wand-like object, while another one was proudly displaying a blue box made of cardboard.

"You're like the others, you want to see the Doctor !" Elliet exclaimed in triumph.

"What if I want to see him ?" the boy muttered. 

Like all the children of Gallifrey, Derian had been told numerous stories about the Doctor. As a little boy, he had would always ask his mother to read "the Tales of Loom Aunty Flavia". And even now, at the wise age of 13, he was still excited by the adventures of the Doctor of War, the Oncoming Storm, the Predator of the Daleks, the madman in his box. 

"It's ridiculous, why would the Doctor come ? He has worlds to save, planets to see. If I had a TARDIS, I would never return to this junk planet."

"Because he has to" Elliet explained. "Without the Kithriarch, the wedding cannot be celebrated."

"And ? Lady Innocet has been fine for centuries, why does she need to marry the House ?"

"Boys are so stupid !" Elliet sighed, looking for approval in little Akytior, who nooded as seriously as a 5 years old can. 

Suddenly, a woman appeared. She was wearing strange clothes and looked very clean for someone walking in the drylands. 

"Hello there !" the exclaimed, a bright smile on her kind looking face. "Are you here for the wedding too ? I love weddings ! Except when I am the bride's maid. I don't like making speeches" suddenly, her face crumpled "They're gonna make me do a speech, right ?"

The children exchanged confused looks. The woman pointed at the place were the House should be standing. 

"Isn't it Mount Lung ? I hope I entered the right coordinates in my TARDIS."

"The Ghost House only appears for very short periods" Elliet explained to the stranger.

"The Ghost House ? Is it how you called it ? Not spooky at all. » the woman said with a grin « Well, my TARDIS has been called the Ghost Monument, that doesn't mean it's haunted. I hope it's not." 

"The House of Lungbarrow is built from the remains of a dead TARDIS" Derian answered immediately, cutting the line to his sister. "Because it's half a House it can't move in space, but because it's half a TARDIS it can move in time."

"Oh, brilliant !" the woman exclaimed. 

As she adjusted her suspenders, a soft wind blew from the mountain, charged with tachyon energy and a faint smell of artron particles. With the faintest TARDIS noise, a while building materialized in front of the tiny crowd of Shobogan kids.

"Nice, just in time ! That's Innocet for you. Do you want to come in and have a snack ? I'm sure there will be plenty of cake !"

The children exchanged confused looks.

"We're not invited" the girl with the cardboard TARDIS said. 

"I'm sure my Cousins will be delighted to have you to their party. What's your name ?"

"I'm Kyren, and they are Jored, Lennard, Elliet and her brother Derian, and little Akytior. We're from the village over there."

" Nice to meet you all. I'm the Doctor. "

The House of Lungbarrow rambled on miles and miles of wide staircases and narrow paths, empty halls and cramped sitting rooms bursting with books and curiosities.  
At the center of this web of living pale wood and glistening mirrors, the two Drudges were arranging a flimsy veil of delicate gold lace around the still figure of the Bride. Eyes wide open, Innocet was looking at the woman in the mirror, her face half hidden by the delicate patterns of the lace and a heavy layer of traditional makeup. She was still in her third body after all those centuries and it started showing some signs of age. A few wrinkles at the corner of her now paler eyes, some grey streaks in her waist long hair, but she was still rather pleasant looking. 

Innocet blinked and put a end to her vain musings and let the miror show her the main Atrium. Everything was perfect, the traditional garlands of silver leaves and golden flowers, the extravagant banquet with its gigantic cake as a center piece, the fancy dressed Cousins waiting for the Pythian queen of the day. All that was missing was the head of the Family. Wthout the Kithriarch, there would be no wedding. Trepidation was running under Innocet's skin. Her whole life depended upon the Doctor's mercurial will. It was madness to hope for her Cousin's presence. At least, if they never came, there would still be cake.

Suddenly, the large doors opened and a bunch of raggedy children burst laughting into the Atrium. Innocet started breathing again and realised she had a faint taste of blood inside her cheek. The youngest of the Shobogans offspring was holding a familiar blond woman's hand.

As she put her foot on the other side of the large gate, the Doctor felt a strong temporal displacement. The House was holding on its own continuum, stuck somewhere between the past micro span and the next one. Jam yesterday, jam tomorrow, and if they were lucky, wedding cake today. The garden was uncharacteristicly unkempt, running wild and luscious. Instead of the traditional Rassilon sculpure, a cloaked figure was welcoming them with open arms, the flowing folds of its cape hiding an infinite number of faces and bodies.

The Doctor winced at the idea of facing her Cousins after all this time. She wasn't exactly sure how long it had been for them, and if time could heal the dreadful aftermath of despair and darkness. The children, blissfully unaware of the past history, burst into the vast reception room. She let herself being dragged by little Akytior. All looks fell on her. Bleak eyes, deprived of hatred and anger, but lost and distant behind the formal attires. Her Cousins all beared new faces she couldn't recognize, but they still looked like ghosts in disguise, pretending to be there in this realm of flower garlands and fancy wedding buffet. Well, not all of them, as the Doctor noticed a far less childlike Owis, standing next an unknown woman in extravagant ceremony robes, a silver flowers tiara adorning her wild curls. None of them noticed the Doctor as the oldest children had runned to greet them with the familiar joy of old friends. 

“Welcome home, Kithriarch” a soft yet assertive voice rang from the upper gallery. The Bride was sitting in a regal posture on a velvet cushioned palanquin carried by two cream coloured Drudges with the most delicate features.

“Innocet !” the Doctor exclaimed, then she corrected herself “I mean Housekeeper Innocet.”

“Not yet, my Kithriarch. For now, I am humbly adressed as Cousin Innocet.”

When the Drudges walked down the last step, Innocet and the Doctor found themselves staring at each other in an equal long cultivated affection and fascination. The Faithful One and the Renegade, both outsiders among their own people. 

“Where are my manners ?” Innocet laughed, allowing herself to break character “Snail, let me introduce you to the Lady Iffalunar.”

The extravagant woman in blue bowed her head in the Doctor's direction.

“She's a very dear friend of mine, and an even dearest one to our Cousin Owis. You might say she's our Cousin by alliance.”

The Doctor extended her hand to a confused Iffalunar, and finally opted for a big hug, throwing her arms around Owis and his distinguished fiance.

“I'm the Doctor. Happy to meet you, Cousin Iffalunar ! Can I call you Luna ?"  
” she introduced herself before grinning at Owis “Hi ! Nice to see you again, Cousin Owis. Sorry, it's been a while, I'm not sure I remember everyone in this House.”

The man stared at the Doctor critically, looking for a sense of familiarity, then he finally commented on his long gone Cousin.

“You haven't changed much since this picture Innocet likes to keep around.”

“You are right, It didn't take long before I got summonned here. The telepathic circuits of the House probably recognized this face when it searched for me through the Vortex.”

Owis nodded in understanding and the Doctor realised the savage boy was long gone. She wondered how many centuries had passed. Long enough to give a few wrinkles and greying hair to the once youthful Innocet. 

“The House was rebuilt using a fragment of TARDIS coral. Innocet says it is the legacy of her late TARDIS.”

“How does it work ?” the Doctor asked. “I can feel the temporal continuum is alterated.”

“The House is existing outside of the continuum” Owis explained.”We are on our own, unique Gallifrey.”

The Doctor frowned.

“A pocket universe ?”

“Not exactly. We are still attached to the prime reality, but the House is anchored inside the Time Vortex. Think of an island in the middle of a furious stream.”

“Of course, it has the heart of a TARDIS and the roots of a House. This is brilliant. I suppose it's how you all survived the Time War !”

Iffalunar cleared her throat.

“The Great Time War isn't over. It's never over.”

The Doctor looked at the Time Lady with a sorry smile.

“That's the issue with time travel. I promise one day it will be over.”

“I know. We took the children and their families to safety at the end of Gallifrey.”

The Doctor was about to ask what that could possibly mean, but she soon realised the bleak undertones in Iffalunar's answer. No more Capitol, no more Time Lords. Not even a single Cyberman. Just a dead, empty Gallifrey given back to its unblemished native inhabitants. Maybe it was how it was meant to end.

“You are a Time Lady, aren't you ?”

“Please, don't feel sorry for me” Iffalunar asked gently. “I've had a lonely life since I came out of the Loom, but now I found a Family.”

The Doctor was about to ask more questions to Owis about the practicalities of this peculiar hybrid House and the whereabouts of her Cousins during the Time War, as she suspected they had done more than just hiding in the shadows, but suddenly, solemn music started playing and the canopy above the high ceiling retracted like a nest of vegetal snakes, flooding the whole room with bright sunlight magnified and refracted by the glass dome overbearing the Atrium.

The Drudges carried Innocet to the central plinth and the soon-to-be Housekeeper stomped the flagstone with her decorated staff four times. All the guests stopped talking and joined the somewhat orderly circle around Innocet, who bowed her head to the Doctor. The Time Lord took the cue and came to face her Family. One of the Drudges opened a drawer on its wooden robe and produced a wine colored velvet cape covered in rich embroideries and placed it on her shoulders. The Doctor smiled sheepishly as she suddenly realised how unappropriate her clothes were, but the Drudge didn't gave her time to fumble with her suspenders for too long, as she stuffed a heavy velvet cushion in her hands, displaying the large, heavier keys of the House of Lungbarrow.

The Atrium was flooded with golden sunlight. It fell directly on the Loom plinth, causing the veil on Innocet's face to glisten and shimmer around her like a halo that almost reached the nearest Cousins and the children standing at the front row. In the rafters high above their heads, a few birds had were chirping, and a faint smell of spring was running in the air.

“Cousins of mine” she addressed the crowd “May this day be blessed and remain in our memories as the day of the Resurrection of the House of Lungbarrow, and its echoes of joy be always whispered for the generations after us.”

Innocet's voice broke and she closed her eyes to regain her composure as she was strangled by emotion.

“House of Lungbarrow” she resumed “I shall serve you might and main, mortar and mortice.”

She paused and gave a side glance to the Doctor. The Time Lord bowed her head and put a knee on the floor, her head bowed in silence. She suddenly realised she had never assisted to a Gallifreyan wedding before, let alone being so personally involved. Was she allowed to do that ? She had never received her official title as Kithriarch. 

“Ahem” Innocet cough softly. The Doctor noticed a little step had made its way to the palanquin, allowing her to be at Innocet's level. She climbed it and presented the heavy keys to the Bride. She lifted her veil and passed the chain around her neck.

“I shall guard your bounds, your chattels and your progeny from Loom to Tomb” she declaimed.

The Doctor took the wooden ring from the velvet cushion. It looked like a twisted twig of vine, far too wide for Innocet's delicate hand. When she passed it around her finger, the wood reacted and coiled like a tiny snake. Innocet winced as the ring adjusted itself to fit her perfectly. From now, she would never be able to remove it.

“Lungbarrow” she chanted softly. 

“Lungbarrow” the Doctor chanted back, slightly louder.

“LUNGBARROW” the crowd of Cousins chanted in one voice, sending a shiver through the whole building.

Innocet stood up on her platform and walked on the plinth behind them. The Drudges positionned themselves on each side, guarding Innocet as she stood bare feet on the Loom, her hands reaching to the ceiling. The Doctor bowed her head humbly and joined the crowd to admire her Cousin as she performed the anciant hymns. 

Old High Gallifreyan felt more like music than articulated sounds, entrancing everyone in the House. The Doctor could feel the telepathic mind of the House covering them all. It's control over Innocet's body made her voice guttural like the call of anciant ghosts. The last verse echoed all around them long after Innocet had gone silent. The new Housekeeper tensed and collpased on the Loom, releasing everyone from the spell.

The crowd stayed silent for a while, before the most impatient Cousin start to chatter and mind their own business. “How disrespectful of them” the Doctor thought.

“Please, take no offense of them” Innocet's voice reached her mind “it's a party after all.”

The Doctor walked to the Loom and held a hand to Innocet as she was regaining her spirits. She blinked confusedly and ran a hand through her hear, noticing how messy they had become, then a wide smiled crept on her face.

“There it is ! The Loom is fertile again”

She took the Doctor's hand and jumped on the floor. Her Cousin gasped and caugh her before she reached the unforgiving stones.

“Careful” the Doctor said.

“So this is it ? I am married to my House. It's been so long since I was Loomed, I almost thought this day would never come.”

“It's never too late” the Doctor said.

“I know. What I really meant was, thank you. Thank you for coming all the way to Gallifrey.”

“It was an important occasion.”

“You've changed, Snail.” Innocet whispered.

“I know” 

“I hope you won't forget us too quickly.” she added mischievously, though she couldn't fool the Doctor.

“Hey, don't be sad. I'll come back, I promise.”

“Will you ? When the War is over, maybe I'll summon you again.”

The Doctor's face faltered. 

“You haven't made it yet ? I thought no one could leave the Time Lock.”

“We can't, but we can open doors, for a short period. Don't worry, the House will take you back to your TARDIS.” 

The Doctor led Innocet to the buffet and loaded two pieces of cake on the fince china plates, handing one to her Cousin.

“Thank you” Innocet said as she dipped her spoon in the cream.

“I talked to Owis and his friend. Or is she his wife ? Anyway, they told me about the Shobogan families you've saved.”

Innocet fumbled with the cake.

“I didn't save anyone. I just invited them in when the the sky was getting dark. They accientally found themselves in the wrong time period when they left the House after tea.”

“It's still an act of heroism.”

Innocet scoffed.

“I'm not the one leading fleets of Battle TARDIS against the Daleks.”

The Doctor clenched her teeth, and Innocet apologized imediately.  
“That's alright, it was lifetimes ago” the Time Lord said “What I did during the War isn't worth any praise. I'm sure you did your part too. Or you will do more in the future. I know you well Innocet, you claim to be quiet and mind your own business, but you can't stand injustice and you have the heart of a true rebel.”

“We come from the same Loom, Cousin. I've been thinking about it a lot lately. All those tales, about the Other, the Foundling, the Timeless Child. What if you had been Loomed in this House for a purpose ? You certainly belong in this Family.”

“And I wouldn't wish to be born in any other House. Imagine if old Quences hadn't been badgering me to no end, if Satthralope hadn't pinched my ears to the blood. Maybe I would have become a boring old Time Lord. Rassilon forbid, even a boring old President !”

Innocet snorted loudly and lifted a glass of emerald colored wine a shy stool had handed to her.

“I propose a drink to the worst House on Gallifrey, and all the Renegades and good-to-nothing it wove within its Loom !”

The Doctor lifted her own glass.

“To the only good House left on Gallifrey ! To Lungbarrow and its extraordinary Housekeeper.”

The end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it all, folks !
> 
> Well, not really, I plan to add a bonus chapter with some picture and scans of my notebook. I'm not really an artist, but I did my best to draw some costumes and backgrounds.
> 
> It's also not the end of Innocet's adventures =^w^= !  
> I hope you'll like Innocet's War, the next part of this series.
> 
> Thank you for reading, you've made my year 2020 a lot better <3 !


End file.
